Thai fishermen netted a catfish as big as a grizzly bear, setting a world record for the largest freshwater fish ever found, according to researchers who studied the 646-pound Mekong giant catfish as part of a project to protect large freshwater fish.
?It?s amazing to think that giants like this still swim in some of the world?s rivers,? project leader Zeb Hogan project leader said in a statement. ?We?ve now confirmed now that this catfish is the current record holder, an astonishing find.?
?I?m thrilled that we?ve set a new record, but we need to put this discovery in context: these giant fish are uniformly poorly studied and some are critically endangered," added Hogan, a fellow with the World Wildlife Fund, which is partnering with the National Geographic Society. "Some, like the Mekong giant catfish, face extinction.?