Mega Freshwater Fish Worldwide

Human beings have always hunted top predators from sharks in the oceans to lions, tigers and bears on land. It is no exception for the biggest fishes in rivers. The large mega-fish species used to threaten the life of people in general and fishermen in spectacular. However, these have become rare worldwide due to over-fishing, habitat destruction and pollution.
An adult arapaima fish, known as the pirarucu in Brazil or the paiche in Peru, is fed at the aquarium in Manaus, Brazil and becomes one of the largest freshwater fish worldwide. Some reach lengths of more than 10 feet (3 meters) and weigh upward of 400 pounds (180 kilograms)

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An adult arapaima fish

Visitors saw a preserved paddlefish at the Yangtze River Fishery Research Institute in Jingzhou, China

This dangerous species lives in China's Yangtze River and ranks the largest freshwater fish in the world. Unfortunately, overfishing and dam construction have decimated paddlefish populations

A pair of Chinese sturgeons swims in the Beijing City Aquarium. Capable of weighing half a ton and growing to 16 feet (5 meters) long, this freshwater leviathan is one of the largest sturgeon species on Earth

A giant barb was caught on the Tonle Sap River near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There is evidence that the species can reach sizes of 10 feet (3 meters) long and 660 pounds (300 kilograms)

A Cambodian man came face-to-face with a giant barb on the Tonle Sap River near Phnom Penh. Fishermen along the Tonle Sap catch five to ten adult giant barbs each year, making the region one of the last places on Earth to see these impressive fish at their largest

A newborn giant stingray was caught by local fishermen on the Banpakong River near Bangkok, Thailand. The mother stingray measured 14 feet (4 meters) long and weighed from 200 to 300 pounds (90 to 140 kilograms). Scientists hope the presence of a baby and a pregnant mother means the river is a nursery for these freshwater giants

Fish experts believe the giant stingray such as this one in Cambodia's Mekong River, is the largest freshwater species on Earth. This specimen measured more than 13 feet (4 meters) long

Lake sturgeons - the freshwater monsters living in North America's Great Lakes and upper Mississippi River are extremely long-lived. Scientists determined that a specimen caught in Canada in 1953 was 152 years old

Mekong giant catfish is one of the largest fish in the world. This fish this can reach 10 feet (3 meters) long and weigh up to 650 pounds (300 kilograms)

A Cambodian man observed a Mekong giant catfish on the Tonle Sap River

Two boys carried giant river catfish in Cambodia on their shoulder

The giant Eurasian trout, also known as a taimen, is famous for its voracious appetite. This 5-foot (1.5-meter) specimen was found on the banks of the Eg-Uur River in northern Mongolia after killing a 3-foot (1-meter) victim of the same species