Mekong River giant catfish (Mekong River giant catfish caught by fishing)

The Mekong River originates from the northeastern slope of the Tanggula Mountains in my country. It is called the Canglan River in our country. The section after it flows into the Indo-China Peninsula is called the Mekong River. The total length of the main stream is 4,909 kilometers.

The Mekong River ranks fifth in Asia and ninth in the world. It is the most important transnational water system in Asia and the longest river in Southeast Asia. It flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam etc.

Mekong River

The Mekong River is particularly rich in fish species. According to statistics from the Mekong River Commission (MCR), there are more than 1,700 species of fish in the entire basin, second only to the Amazon in number. river. Speaking of the Mekong River, we have to mention the Mekong River giant catfish, which is more than 4 meters long and weighs nearly 600 kilograms.

In fact, giant catfish are not uncommon in the Mekong River. However, some time ago, someone caught a suspected giant catfish in the Mekong River, so many netizens raised questions, can catfish grow so big? I can't believe it!

A giant thorn was caught in the Mekong River. A giant thorn was fished in the Mekong River.

Not long ago, a short video of fishing in the Mekong River was uploaded to the Internet. In the video, two men were fishing in the Mekong River. Along the Mekong River, the purpose of catching giant catfish is to use the elastic thin trees on the riverside, tie a thicker horsefish line and an oversized fishhook.

A larger piece of animal offal was hung on the hook as bait, and soon there was movement from the other side of the trees, as if something had been pulling it. Through cooperation, the two successfully pulled the super "King of Angry Fish" onto the boat.

The length of the giant spiny fish that was caught was over one meter. Judging from the overall size of the fish, it was estimated to weigh at least 50 kilograms. However, many people soon raised doubts because the fish was really too big and they had never seen such a big fish.

From the appearance point of view, it is very similar to the thorn fish

The scientific name of the thorn fish is yellow catfish, also known as Huang Lading, Huang Guzi, Huang Shagu, Huang The horned fish, the spiny yellow stock, the male fish, etc. are a type of scaleless fish and only live in freshwater waters.

The stickleback fish is an omnivorous fish, but in fact the stickleback fish prefers carnivorous food. In natural waters, the stickleback fish usually preys on insects and their larvae, small fish, shrimps, snails and clams, etc. It also eats plant debris, and also likes to steal the eggs of other fish.

Spurfish

Wild Spurfish likes to inhabit areas with slow water flow, especially shallow water areas with many aquatic plants. The stingray is a bottom-dwelling fish, so it usually hides in rock piles, rock crevices, and areas with obstacles in the water body.

The thorn is a nocturnal fish. It usually hides in caves during the day and only comes out to feed at night. However, on cloudy and rainy days when the light is weak, or during the rainy season when the water is turbid, thorns will swim out of their caves to hunt for prey day and night.

Cockroaches are small fishes. Most of the Cockthorns sold in the vegetable market are about 100 grams in size. During wild fishing, the sizes of thorns obtained vary, but they are all within 150 grams. Occasionally, larger ones weighing around 500 grams can be encountered, but these are a minority after all. Therefore, it is impossible to grow to 50 pounds.

Comparison of the wild giant thornfish in the Mekong River

Some people have suggested that this "giant thornfish" caught is probably a large catfish, because There are more catfish in the Mekong River. Judging from the picture, the overall structure of this fish is completely consistent with the structure of the thorn, but it is a bit too big.

This thorn is also too big

and its body structure is obviously different from that of a catfish. Although catfish are also scaleless fish, their dorsal fins usually have no dorsal spines, or the spines on their dorsal fins are very small. And this fish not only has a dorsal fin, but it is also very large, so it doesn't look like a catfish.

Catfish

However, some friends who like fishing said that this fish looks very similar to the melon fish. After checking the information, I learned that the scientific name of the melon fish is the giant turtle, also known as the eagle tank, eagle duckbill, tank duckbill, etc. It is a large and very ferocious carnivorous fish.

The melon fish is mainly distributed in the Lancang River in my country and the Mekong River downstream, and is also distributed in the Henghe River in India. By comparing the giant thornfish and the melonfish, it was found that although it is similar to the melonfish, the corners of the mouth of the melonfish are sickle-shaped, so this is not a melonfish.

The last one of the melon fish

Although we checked a lot of information, we were not sure whether it was a squid or not. Based on the appearance of the fish alone, the fish was shrunk by 100 Times, there is no doubt that this is indeed a stickleback fish, but the largest stickleback fish we have ever seen is just over a kilogram, and one weighing more than 50 kilograms, I am afraid no one has seen it in the whole of China.

No matter what kind of fish it is, if it is not protected, it will definitely become a "fish in memory".

Because according to the fishing data of the Mekong River in previous years, the total annual fish caught in the entire basin is about 2.5 million tons, and the average is about 2 million tons. However, this data is currently and is shrinking year by year.

Fishermen along the Mekong River

Throughout the Mekong River Basin, a large part of the residents living along the coast rely on fishing for fish and shrimp in the Mekong River to survive. Due to overfishing, aquatic animals in the Mekong River Basin are at risk of resource depletion.

Among them, the number of giant catfish in the Mekong River has decreased by approximately 80% in the past ten years. Of course, in addition to overfishing, it is also related to newly built hydropower stations. Since most freshwater fish are migratory fish, hydropower stations block the migration path for reproduction, and the inability of fish to reproduce is the fundamental reason.

Mekong River Fish

According to the Mekong River Commission, a 2020 survey report showed that due to the construction of hydropower station projects, at least 40% of aquatic species have been reduced or disappeared. If this problem is not resolved, it will cause huge disasters to aquatic animals in the Mekong River. Therefore, this will be a new topic that fishery experts need to study.

# Fishing ##Mekong River## Anglin Fish#

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