Mekong Giant Catfish

• conservaciónIt is one of the largest freshwater fish on record, and its wild population has fallen sharply as dams have blocked its migration routes.
• It is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world: in 2005 an individual of 293 kg and almost three metres was caught in northern Thailand.
• The adults lose their teeth and almost all their barbels, and switch to feeding mainly on algae and plant matter, which is extraordinary in a catfish of that size.
• Catches across the whole basin fell from about seventy fish a year in 1990 to fewer than ten in recent years.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bony fish)

Habitat and environment

The main channel and large tributaries of the lower Mekong; it migrates long distances upstream to spawn at the start of the rainy season

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Pangasianodon gigas

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.