📸 PhotoPhoto: Carkuni ( talk ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Mekong giant catfish
Pangasianodon gigas (Mekong giant catfish · メコンオオナマズ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum total length of 3 m is about 2/3 the length of a passenger car (about 4.5 m) (Comparison).
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 350 kg is the weight of 17 and a half 20 kg bags of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 It grows so fast that it reaches 150–200 kg in just 6 years (FishBase).
- 💡 It is caught commercially, while aquaculture is at an experimental stage (FishBase).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Mekong giant catfish is a huge freshwater fish endemic to the Mekong River basin, introduced by FishBase as being listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest freshwater fish. Overfishing has made it rare, and its IUCN assessment is Critically Endangered (CR, 2011).
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body is enormous, reaching up to 3 m in length and 350 kg in weight. It can also breathe air when needed.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Adults feed on detritus and algae on the bottom and eat only plants in rivers, undertaking spawning migrations. Having one of the fastest growth rates of any fish in the world, it reaches 150–200 kg in 6 years.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List CR (2011) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15944/5324699
- • IUCN Red List category CR — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 4CCCN
- • iucnredlist.org — 5324699
- • wikidata.org — Q739380
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:AquatottoGifu mekonoonamazu.jpg
- • fishbase.se — Pangasianodon-gigas.html
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.