GIANT catfish
The largest freshwater fish ever caught, a catfish the size of a grizzly bear, was pulled out of the Mekong River in Thailand this week. The 646 pound fish was cooked and eaten in the fisherman’s village.
“The Mekong River Basin is home to more species of massive fish than any river on Earth…The Mekong giant catfish is Southeast Asia’s largest and rarest fish and the focus of Dr. Hogan’s project along with about two-dozen other species around the world such as the giant freshwater stingray, the infamous dog-eating catfish, the dinosaur-like arapaima, and the Chinese paddlefish - all of which remain contenders for the title of the world’s largest fish.”
Never, ever, ever, go in the water in Southeast Asia.
UPDATE 7/9/05: < href="http://ftp2.nationalgeographic.com/pressroom/GIANT%20CATFISH/GiantCatfish.jpg" target="_blank">National Geographic has an awesome full-size photo of the catfish right here. This scares me a lot.
This is definitely making me reconsider the Halong Bay kayaking trip I’m planning with my son.
HIS MOTHER: Where’s Alexander?
ME: Damnedest thing. There was this 600lb catfish, see. And you know how much Alexander likes cats. And, uh…
You know what he would have said if it got away….I swear it was this big.
I think its really sad that all these commercial fisherman will be flocking to Asia now to rape the waters of these rare fish. The thing is huge granted, but still….I feel this sense of loss.
My brother and me had a bet about how big a catfish could get, he seid bigger then a votts wagen, I seid no way I guess he won!!