World’s largest recorded freshwater fish found in Cambodia

Bangkok, Jun 21 (EFE).- A giant stingray measuring four meters and weighing 300 kilograms, the world’s largest recorded freshwater fish, has been found in the Mekong River in Cambodia, scientists said Tuesday.

A local fisherman caught the fish near the northwestern town of Stung Treng on June 13, after which he alerted the Cambodian authorities and the Wonders of the Mekong, a Cambodian-American conservation project.

Although there is no official record-keeping or database of freshwater giant fish, scientists from the environmental project that works to protect the biodiversity of species in this area gave the new record to that stingray after measuring it.

The previous record was held by a Mekong catfish that weighed 293 kilograms and was discovered in Thailand in 2005, Wonders of the Mekong said.

“Pretty impressive creature. I think it speaks to the Wonders of the Mekong project. That is truly a wonder of nature right there,” Wonders of the Mekong biologist Dana Lee said in a video posted on Facebook.

The giant stingray was put back into the water after being given an acoustic tag to track its migratory pattern, with the aim of conserving this endangered species.

The Mekong River, the eighth longest in the world, is known for its rich biodiversity, but pollution, overfishing and dam construction are putting the conservation of this ecosystem at risk. EFE

nc/smq/jt