The world’s largest recorded freshwater fish, a large stingray, has been caught within the Mekong River in Cambodia, in keeping with scientists from the Southeast Asian nation and the USA. (See pictures under.)
The stingray, captured on June 13, measured virtually 4 meters (13 toes) from snout to tail and weighed slightly below 300 kilograms (660 kilos), in keeping with an announcement Monday by Wonders of the Mekong, a joint Cambodian-U.S. analysis venture.
The earlier report for a freshwater fish was a 293-kilogram (646-pound) Mekong large catfish, found in Thailand in 2005, the group stated. The stingray was snagged by an area fisherman south of Stung Treng in northeastern Cambodia.
The stingray was snagged by an area fisherman south of Stung Treng in northeastern Cambodia. The fisherman, who earned $600 for the catch, alerted a close-by workforce of scientists from the Wonders of the Mekong venture, which has publicized its conservation work in communities alongside the river.
“Once you see a fish this measurement, particularly in freshwater, it’s arduous to grasp, so I believe all of our workforce was surprised,” Wonders of the Mekong chief Zeb Hogan stated in an internet interview from the College of Nevada in Reno. The college is partnering with the Cambodian Fisheries Administration and USAID, the U.S. authorities’s worldwide growth company.
Freshwater fish are outlined as those who spend their total lives in freshwater, versus large marine species corresponding to bluefin tuna and marlin, or fish that migrate between recent and saltwater like the massive beluga sturgeon.
The workforce that rushed to the positioning inserted a tagging gadget close to the tail of the mighty fish earlier than releasing it. The gadget will ship monitoring data for the following yr, offering unprecedented knowledge on large stingray habits in Cambodia.
“The truth that the fish can nonetheless get this huge is a hopeful signal for the Mekong River, ” Hogan stated, noting that the waterway faces many environmental challenges.
