World's largest freshwater fish found in Mekong, scientists say

2 years ago
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By Grace Tsoi BBC News Published Published 3 days ago
Watch: 'World’s biggest' freshwater fish found in Cambodia
A 300kg (661lb) stingray caught in the Mekong river in Cambodia is the biggest freshwater fish ever documented, scientists say.
It unseated the previous record-holder, a 646lb (293kg) Mekong giant catfish caught in Thailand in 2005.
There is no official record-keeping or database of the world's biggest freshwater fish.
The Mekong is rich in biodiversity but overfishing, dams and pollution threaten its fragile ecosystem.
It flows from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
"In 20 years of researching giant fish in rivers and lakes on six continents, this is the largest freshwater fish that we've encountered or that's been documented anywhere worldwide," said Zeb Hogan, a biologist who leads Wonders of the Mekong, a USAID-funded conservation project.

"Finding and documenting this fish is remarkable, and a rare positive sign of hope, even more so because it occurred in the Mekong, a river that's currently facing many challenges," added Dr Hogan, who is also a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
The stingray was studied and tagged before…
.. it was released back into the water
The conservation project works with the Cambodian Fisheries Administration to set up a network of fishermen who alert the researchers if they catch giant or endangered fish.
On the night of 13 June, a local fisherman on Koh Preah island called to tell researchers that he had caught a "very big" stingray - it turned out to be 3.98m long and 2.2m wide.
After being fitted with an acoustic tag to track its future movement, the stingray was released back into the river.
It disappeared into the muddy waters of the Mekong around dusk when the moon was already up in the sky, Dr Hogan said.
In the local Khmer language, the fish is called "Boramy", which means full moon.
"The stingray find is evidence that the natural world can still yield new and extraordinary discoveries, and that many of the largest aquatic creatures remain woefully understudied," Dr Hogan said.

World's Largest Freshwater Fish Caught In Cambodia's Mekong River
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/worlds-largest-freshwater-fish-caught-in-cambodias-mekong-river-3085279
Cambodian villagers on the Mekong River have caught what researchers say is the world's biggest freshwater fish ever recorded, a stingray that weighed in at 300kg (661 lb) and took around a dozen men to haul to shore.
Christened Boramy - meaning "full moon" in the Khmer language - because of her bulbous shape, the four-metre (13-foot) long female was released back into the river after being electronically tagged to allow scientists to monitor her movement and behavior.
"This is very exciting news because it was the world's largest fish," said biologist Zeb Hogan, ex-host of the "Monster Fish" show on the National Geographic Channel and now part of a conservation project on the river.
"It is also exciting news because it means that this stretch of the Mekong is still healthy.... It is a sign of hope that these huge fish still live (here)."
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