Sunday 15 March 2015

Is this stingray the world’s largest freshwater fish?

March 15, 2015

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – 

A massive 8-foot by 14-foot, 700 to 800-pound pregnant stingray caught in Thailand by nature conservationist and TV show host Jeff Corwin last week might be the largest freshwater fish of all time, according to various media reports.

The ray was caught and released in the Mae Klong River in Thailand’s Amphawa District, about one hour outside of Bangkok, National Geographic reported on Wednesday. Nantarika Chansue, a veterinarian and professor at Chulalongkorn University, assisted Corwin with the catch.

(Credit: Jeff Corwin/Twitter)


Chansue referred to the creature, officially known as Himantura polylepis, as “the big one,” but Zeb Hogan, a National Geographic fellow and professor of biology at the University of Nevada-Reno, explained that the team was unable to get an exact weight for fear of injuring the ray.

All they know is that it was really, really big

“It’s really hard to weigh these things without hurting them, because they are such big, awkward animals,” said Hogan, who had actually caught and tagged the same stingray back in 2009, when it was slightly smaller. “Certainly [this] was a huge fish, even compared to other giant freshwater stingrays, and definitely ranks among the largest freshwater fish in the world.”


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