Contrary to popular belief that huge fish are found only in the waters of the salty seas and oceans, you can also come across giants in freshwater rivers and lakes. If you’re wondering which fish might shock you with their size, here’s a list of the biggest fish that are found in freshwater bodies of water.
INDIAN CARP
This fish can be found in many water bodies not only in India, but all over the world. Few people know that the most common carp, at first glance, can grow to a size that is simply shocking. But not all carp get this growth opportunity. That is why people are used to the fact that it is a small fish that the house cat likes so much.
As a rule, patli (members of the carp family) reach a huge size. They are able to grow up to 225 cm in length.
SIBERIAN SALMON
It is often possible to meet the name not “Siberian salmon”, but “Siberian Taimen”. A distinctive feature of this species of fish is its coloration. Most often its head is a shade close to green, and the tail is red (or close to it).
Of all the representatives of the salmon, the Taimen is considered the largest. Usually, its weight reaches 30 kilograms. The exception is a fish that was caught in the Russian river Kotui. The specimen weighed over a hundred kilograms.
NILE PERCH
The Nile perch is the largest species of fish belonging to this family. In addition to the Nile (as its name implies), it is also found in Senegal, Congo, and Niger. The color of the perch is the usual – silver, black eyes, the rim of which is yellow. The largest representative was about 180 pounds.
PADDLEFISH
The paddlefish population has declined due to the construction of dams and levees, which have become an obstacle to fish migration. In the Americas, paddlefish were quite common. However, it is now rare to catch such a fish out of a river. The largest member of the genus was the paddlefish, which weighed almost ninety kilograms.
CATFISH
Of all the largest freshwater fish in the world, the catfish is the only one that lives most of its existence on the bottom of a body of water. Few people would be surprised that this fish is on this list, as the information that catfish are quite large is common.
227 pounds is the weight of the largest catfish ever caught from a river.
SHARK-BOY
“Sharks are not found in rivers,” you might say with a smile on your face. However, it is not uncommon for a shark to swim into freshwater reservoirs after entering a deep creek. The males are smaller than the females. The average “girl” shark reaches about three meters in length. 315 kilograms is her weight.
ALLIGATOR GARGAN
You should not panic when you see the word “alligator” in the name. Unlike the reptile, the gargantuan has never attacked humans. At least, such cases have not been recorded. The weight of the fish starts from 140-kilograms, and its length reaches three meters.
WHITE OETER
Fish of the family of sturgeon are considered very valuable, since most species of this family are on the verge of extinction. And the true mutant of the family is the white sturgeon.
Why is the white sturgeon on the brink of extinction? The fact is that its life span is about 100 years (if it is lucky enough not to get caught in an angler’s net). But they only become ready to breed from the age of 18 and 14 (females and males, respectively).
FRESHWATER STINGRAY
The freshwater stingray is the only representative living in a freshwater body of water that is not even afraid of sharks. However, it is also, like the white sturgeon, on the verge of extinction because of too high a catch rate.
The largest specimen once caught is one that weighed more than 500 kg. There have been cases where stingrays have sunk entire fishing boats – so strong is this fish.
BELUGA
The fish that lays that notorious black roe is the largest resident of fresh water (among fish). The weight of the largest specimen that has been recorded is 1,580 kilograms. And its length is 7.5 meters.
Unfortunately, beluga is an endangered species of fish. Its meat and caviar are considered a real delicacy among people. That is why in several decades (if everything goes at the present pace) our children will not have an opportunity to see live beluga.