How big do Niger catfish get?

How do Mekong giant catfish grow to such enormous sizes?

These catfish manage to grow to such enormous sizes through a number of evolutionary tricks. We’ll start with when the catfish are fry. Although full-grown adult Mekong giant catfish lack dentition and barbels (teeth and whiskers), not so with the fry.

What does a tree bark catfish look like?

The fish has khaki coloring – large dark splotches on sandy yellow background all these make this catfish look like a piece of tree bark. In the wild this fish can literally disappear against fallen leaves background.

Can We protect the Mekong catfish before they go extinct?

I believe if we can showcase how impressive these fish are to catch and release, we can spark a movement to protect them before they go extinct. Giant Mekong Catfish are big river fish native to the Mekong basin. Located in Southeast Asia, this giant catfish is unique.

What is a giant Mekong catfish?

Giant Mekong Catfish are big river fish native to the Mekong basin. Located in Southeast Asia, this giant catfish is unique. It has grey to white coloring, no stripes, no teeth, and has little to no barbells.

What is the largest freshwater catfish in the world?

It is not only the largest catfish but the world’s largest freshwater scaleless fish. One of the largest Mekong giant catfish caught, if not the largest of all, was netted on May 1, 2010, in the Mekong River in Northern Thailand. It was almost nine feet long and the size of a grizzly bear, weighing 646 pounds.

Will the Mekong’s hydroelectric dams drive the catfish to extinction?

A sudden escalation in the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong could seal the fate of the species. A host of dams, both under construction and planned, threaten to block the catfish’s natural migration patterns, potentially driving it to extinction. The Xayaburi dam, which is already being built, poses the most immediate threat.

What are the biggest threats to the Mekong River ecosystem?

Dams may be the single biggest threat to the Mekong ecosystem, and to the migratory giant catfish. Governments and the populace of Southern Asia increasingly want to get away from heavily polluting fossil fuels for their energy needs, and they see hydropower as an attractive and viable alternative.

Where can you find the Mekong catfish?

The Mekong catfish can only be found mainstream in the Lower Mekong and select locations such as Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Cambodia. This large freshwater fish used to be common further north but now sightings of what some consider the biggest catfish are non-existent in those regions.

What does the Mekong giant catfish symbolize?

“As one of the largest freshwater fish on earth, [the Mekong giant catfish] is symbolic of the integrity and health of the Mekong River”, says Zeb Hogan, an ecologist with the University of Nevada in Reno, who has been studying the species for nearly 20 years.

What are the threats to the Mekong giant catfish?

Threats to the Mekong giant catfish, and several other giant migratory fish species in the Mekong, include infrastructure development such as dams that block migration routes and isolate some populations. Without the ability to move up and down rivers, the fish have fewer opportunities to breed.

What is the largest catfish in the Mekong River?

Grey to white in colour and lacking stripes, the Mekong giant catfish is distinguished from other large catfish species in the river by the near-total lack of barbels and the absence of teeth. The Mekong giant catfish once held the Guinness World Records ‘ position for the world’s largest freshwater fish in 2005.

What is the name of the biggest catfish in the world?

Pangasianodon gigas is also the only catfish to be without barbels in adulthood Common name: Giant Mekong catfish Thai name: Plah Beuk ( บีท) Thailand status: Native. Max size: 350kg (771lb) Diet: Phytoplankton, Algae, Terrestrial plants, Insects. Habitat: Freshwater. The Giant Mekong catfish is one of the biggest fish in the world.

How does the Mekong giant catfish move?

While scientists don’t know exactly how the fish move, the Mekong giant catfish is believed to spend much of its time feeding in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake and then migrating hundreds of miles north to spawning grounds in Thailand.

Is the Mekong giant catfish the largest fish in the world?

While a few specimens of Alligator Gar and Arapaima have exceeded the Mekong Giant Catfish in length, the latter regularly reaches far heavier weights. This aquatic behemoth is considered to be among the largest of all scaleless freshwater fish.

Do dams stop fish from migrating?

Dams and migratory fish don’t mix. Dams create a physical barrier that can halt fish migrations and spawning up and down river. Between October and December each year, Mekong giant catfish migrate from lakes in the lower Mekong of Vietnam, upstream into Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, where they spawn.

Are the Mekong’s fish migratory?

Many of the Mekong’s fish are thought to be migratory, and scientists have predicted that new dams could block migration routes for up to 100 species, including the Mekong giant catfish.

Where does the Mekong River flow?

Until the 1980s the Mekong River flowed freely for 4,900 kilometres from its 5,100-metre high source in Tibet to the coast of Vietnam, where it finally poured into the South China Sea. The Mekong is the world’s twelfth longest river, and the eighth or tenth largest, in terms of the 475 billion cubic metres of water it discharges annually.

What are the environmental impacts of the Mekong River Dam?

Dams are known to threaten fish populations, cause major soil erosion and alter natural river hydrology, jeopardizing the future of the entire lower Mekong River basin as a life-sustaining ecosystem.

Is the Mekong River the most productive river on Earth?

“This means the Mekong River, as the most productive river on Earth, can continue to provide for future generations as it has for past civilizations.” WATCH: Take a closer look at a river that feeds 60 million people and is home to more giant fish than any other river on Earth.

How many fish species have been caught in the Mekong River?

In the Mekong River Basin, catches of migratory freshwater fish species decreased by a whopping 78 per cent between 2000 and 2015. Still, between 2018 and 2019, scientists recorded 110 new species in the Lower Mekong Basin.

Where do the Mekong fish go?

The fish are thought to rear primarily in the Mekong and Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake and migrate hundreds of miles north to spawning grounds in Thailand. Spawning fish in the upper Cambodia are being over harvested.