Monster Leviathans: The Planet’s Largest Freshwater Fish That You Probably Didn’t Know About
Published by Obviously the world’s oceans are known to support the majority of the planet’s fish species, but did you know that there are monsters patrolling the world’s fresh waters that are as big as the cars that we drive or can swallow a person whole if they were hungry enough?
Considering a day fishing at our favorite fishing holes, generally we catch fish not bigger than 60 to 75 pounds on a rod and reel. Larger fish are always possible using a trotline or net in deeper water or along river channels. Usually, the majority of us catch hand size bluegill bream, slab crappie, largemouth bass, carp, or catfish (best chance to catch a large fish).
In the United States of America, there are some pretty large freshwater fish lurking the deeps of thousands of miles of rivers, deep lakes, ghostly swamps and the endless tributaries that are the life support of healthy rivers. There are bigger and more formidable freshwater fish prowling the freshwater basins in the more remote parts of the world. Monstrous fish, so huge that some of them are as big as the cars that we drive and others so aggressive that they could possibility swallow a man whole, if they were hungry enough.
Let’s take a look together at the Monster Leviathans: “The Planet’s Largest Freshwater Fish That You Probably Didn’t Know About” and thank our lucky stars that we haven’t come face-to-face with one of these monsters at our favorite fishing or swimming hole.
Arapaima
The Arapaima (as known as the “Paiche”) is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world reaching lengths up to 14 ¾ feet and weighing as much as 440 lbs. A native fish to the Amazon, these fish are commonly raised in commercial farm ponds, because of its delicious meat and protein many poor rural regions of the Amazon can easily obtain.
Mekong Giant Catfish
The Mekong Giant Catfish is considered the most endangered fish in Southeast Asia and in a last ditch attempt to save the fish from complete extinction, the World Conservation Union has classified the Mekong Giant Catfish as critically endangered making it a crime to harvest. The Mekong Giant Catfish can grow to more than 660 pounds in the Cambodian Mekong River Basin and grow to lengths as big as a Volkswagen.
Giant White Sturgeon
Liked it
On August 17, 2008 at 2:34 am
Hey Nelson!
Cool article. I used to go fishing with my father and brother and would run amile if anything longer than the length of my forearm was pulled out of the water. What I would do with the sight of these babies coming at me I have no idea! Very informative! Cheers!
On August 17, 2008 at 5:47 am
Those are some very big fish. I only was aware of maybe 2 or 3 of them before reading this piece and they seems to be the tame ones on this list. Although, I would really have a blast trying to land a 660 pound catfish that would be cool.
On August 17, 2008 at 10:12 am
very informative. i did’nt know that freshwater fish would grow so big, even bigger than those found in the deep of the ocean.
On August 17, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Wow. Very cool article. You should check out my monster Goliath on amazing creatures. Well researched.
On August 17, 2008 at 8:05 pm
My son and I had a catfish swim along with our boat that was almost as long as the boat at Sloppy Floyd lake near Summerville Ga. It was amazing.
On August 17, 2008 at 11:38 pm
another nice article,those are really huge fishes,thanks Nelson
On August 18, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Great!! I don’t know the fish are great or your article is great!!
Good Job!
On August 19, 2008 at 12:43 pm
It’s so nifty to see the size some of these things can get to be, bit scary though. We sell alligator gar at the pet store I work in. The African tiger characin is another one that gets close to 6 feet. We sell those too.
On August 19, 2008 at 12:55 pm
i hate seeing these monsters caught. they should be left alone as they are truly natural marvels.
On August 19, 2008 at 2:14 pm
These are monsters – Great article
On August 19, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I learned. Thank you.
On August 19, 2008 at 6:07 pm
really informative article. I didn’t know half of this stuff and I’m not going swimming down in those rivers!
On August 19, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I love this article, thanks.
On August 19, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Clearly Photoshopped.
The shadows are all wrong. I’ve seen a lot of ’shops in my time, and i can clearly see this isn’t real.
You people are so ignorant for falling for this blatant fake.
On August 19, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Magikarp!!!
On August 20, 2008 at 12:35 am
Blue: seriously? These fish are in scientific journals…. and encyclopedias.
Hint: get an education and stop wasting your time telling everyone
“TOTALLY FAKE< LIKE OMG LOLCOPTRS PH0T0SH0P, VIsIt mY Pr0n site."
get a lifeeeee
On August 20, 2008 at 12:45 am
Thank you for posting this… amazing pictures! The arapaima picture took my breath away. I am pretty sure I would have a heart attack if I ever encountered one of these monsters while in the water.
I agree with Henrietta.. People who go around shouting “fake, fake” are truly missing out on some wonderful things in life, such as this article.
Well done.
On August 20, 2008 at 10:04 am
I don’t need to know if they’re fake. I enjoyed this article.
(films and TV shows portray fake stories, so what the heck)
On August 20, 2008 at 11:24 am
Great Article!
I don’t fish but I have always had an interest in Marine Biology.
You should contact the Imageing Foundation – perhaps write some articles for them – they’re a great foundation that is focused on saving our oceans, lakes, rivers,etc.. The founders name is Georgienne.
Leslie Thompson (Elle Millay)
On August 20, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I can definitely vouch for the aligator gars! We have them here and they get as long are longer than I am tall. I am 5′5″. Great article!
On August 20, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Fascinating article and well informative too. Good job!
On August 21, 2008 at 2:52 pm
This article is amazing and very informative.(the fish look delicious too)
On August 21, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Everything is not photoshopped. If that was true, nobody would have allowed you to remain, Blue. Background eraser and a supermodel cut and pasted into your spot, that’s what’d happen to you.
On August 26, 2008 at 6:05 am
the fishes mentioned in this post do get that big and
i have seen most of em.
the pics may have been tweked, not sure, but anyway there are
these creatures which grow these sizes.
see it to believe and then make a comment or
just shut and enjoy the post.
On October 9, 2008 at 3:45 pm
any of you that doubt these fish have the potential to grow to these massive sizes should check in any archive in their library and while your at it check on the sizes of snakes. you will be amazed.
On October 26, 2008 at 3:25 pm
wow thats so cool me and my dad caught this fish and it was longer than my arm and i thought that was big now that i see these i soooo want to go see them in real life
On November 13, 2008 at 7:16 pm
well..that amaze me much..did not think those giant fish really can survive our poluted water now…wow…..i catch many big fish in my entire life….but never so big like that….
On November 17, 2008 at 2:19 pm
blue has no clue. This has been documented for many years before photoshopping came into existence. I’ve lived in the Far East, the sting ray looks as big as a VW if it comes near a boat. There are also other Asian fish almost as big. Down in the Mekong Delta some of them look like pickup trucks. One fish would feed a village for a month if they dried the flesh. I’ve seen fishing boats being towed around for hours by one giant fish before it was tired enough to get to the shore.
On November 18, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Anyone who is interested in fish or ichthyology knows all of the fish mentioned above. Yawn.
On December 15, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I have never heard of or seen creature that are that size
(thank god)
On January 7, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Yes, freshwater fish can and do get this big…Its too bad people can be so narrowminded, and think these are “fake” and photoshopped. Actually, the first officialy recorded Muskegon attack was recorded in a lake in Wisconsin State last year!
On February 10, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Hahaha, you are all so gullible, the pictures are clearly fake. I bet you are all fundamental christians that believe everything you are told. OPEN YOUR EYES!!!!
Just look at the first pic. Those red lines near the bottom are clear signs that it is shopped. Trust me, I know my stuff!
On February 12, 2009 at 10:47 am
>Blue
i see that you don’t watch national geographic do ya?
OPEN YOUR EYES!!!! watch national geographic when your free, theres a world outside photoshop
>:(
nice article btw. cheers
On February 18, 2009 at 5:23 am
Lol, look for a fish called piraíba…
On February 20, 2009 at 6:35 am
PHOTOSHOPPED??? These are NOT PHOTOSHOPPED !!!
Those pics are REAL !!!
The red you are talking about is part of the color of the fish.
All these pictures ARE REAL.
I’ve seen fish in my neck of local freshwater lake as big or bigger than these. Believe it folks they DO GET THAT BIG !!!
B.T.W. check this out. Copy and paste this.
http://www.petfishtalk.com/shows/080326.htm
On February 20, 2009 at 6:46 am
Here’s another one for you Blue.
Check out on that red you “identified” as fake.
http://www.thejump.net/id/arapaima.htm
Open YOUR eyes Blue…
On March 8, 2009 at 5:31 am
really great article! wow just to think that when you’re cruising around on your boat in these lakes and rivers that there are these giants just below the surface! probably bigger than your boat! great pics!
On April 8, 2009 at 1:58 am
Really great article! Suburb pictures! Imagine if all of them where carnivores and we just swimming below your boat! you’d probally be dinner! CRICKETY!!!
On April 15, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Ya, I’d be more scared of the guy holding up the Arapaima. Anybody else see that? It’s like Skeletor and He-man had a baby. I’m sure the article was intriguing to the average sixth grader as well. Blue you’re an idiot.
On April 16, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Proof that these guy’s are real!:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/photogalleries/stingray-pictures/
http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=opera&rls=en&q=giant%20freshwater%20stingray&sourceid=opera&oe=utf-8&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iv#
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8404622/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvz6gs5nWBY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMa95RmP1b0
On April 18, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Monday,April 19th,10pm,on Animal Planet:RIVERMONSTERS!.
On April 18, 2009 at 4:58 pm
That would be on a Sunday.Sorry,my bad!;)
On April 24, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I have heard of all of these, and never thought they got THAT big. I have caught giant catfish before, but these fish could probably eat the one I caught. Arapaima are the most aggresive.
Mr /FAKE/ blue needs to change to red
On April 29, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I was in the marine Corps from 1985-1989. I was stationed at MCAS New River in North Carolina. I saw Alligator gar in the New River, which is in no way anywhere near the Mississippi River basin. They were pretty amazing, and HUGE! Plenty of alligators in general as well.
On May 10, 2009 at 5:29 am
A very super and informative article.
On June 3, 2009 at 6:44 pm
C’mon kids, stop feeding the troll aka Blue. He’s a 52-year old flipping burgers, asking if you want the meal or just the burger and runs out the basement to grab the paper before his mom does every morning. Your responses here is the most interaction he’s had in a decade. Stop feeding the troll.
To the fish enthusiasts, there are Arapaima exhibits at various aquariums/zoos around the world. Truly amazing to see one in real life.
On June 4, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Guys, lay off Blue. Yes, he’s wrong and offensive, but there’s no need to be offensive back. You’re better than that. With that said, Blue, come back when you know how to really to spot fake photos, ‘kay?
Those fish are amazing! Here in Lake Murray, S.C., we get catfish that can get pretty big-but no where NEAR that size. Our gar on the other hand….
Now those are bony devils, they are. Bit a buddy of mine pretty bad one time while we were swimming. It was fairly shallow (about 5 feet or so) and it came up and bit him. He ended up punching it a few times, and it swam away. I could barely believe my eyes! We still talk about it to this day….
On July 6, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I saw something recently about a Nile Perch. A giant perch that inhabits the great lakes of Africa that can reach a size of 440 pounds and six feet long.
On July 6, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Blue Arapama’s have brillant red lines on them. They look almost just like Giant female Siamese fighting fish. They are tropical fish with tropical colors. In fact, in South America they have a giant catfish with a brillant red tail.
On August 4, 2009 at 12:26 am
The Chinese Paddle fish has gone extinct because of dams the dams set up between it’s natural habitat and it’s breeding grounds, little debate there…
On August 6, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Thanks for the great article and pictures! I plan on trying to catch whatever the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers offer. Especially foreign carp in the Illinois and Mississipi rivers. They are taking over there and are a threat to the Great Lakes. I imagine they are in the Missouri river also.
On August 9, 2009 at 8:44 am
hi fggslgdhan
On September 4, 2009 at 12:38 pm
all are real i never knew sturgeons got that big
On November 11, 2009 at 6:48 am
WOW, That’s huuuuuuge
On November 18, 2009 at 11:56 pm
in my lake in tennessee we have caught 50 pound blue cats that were longer than me (im 5\’ 5\”). we brought one up to the boat one time that had to be at least 6 foot, but he only gave us one brief flash then broke the line
. im watching river monsers right now so its kinda ironic lol.
On December 2, 2009 at 3:13 am
i enjoy watching your article,i am a fan my self in collecting some of this huge fish,i wish my fishes would grow as large as of what this pictures shows…
On January 15, 2010 at 4:12 am
no one cares about a stingray, when we say fish we are talking about something you can actually \”fish\” not a G\’D sting ray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On January 21, 2010 at 6:34 pm
OMG I’ve heard of the aligator gar but WOW. these are magnificant. i cant wait to try to catch these babys. WOW. Yo blue get a life loser do some research.
On March 1, 2010 at 2:10 pm
I have seen the mekong giant catfish myself. In fact I have caught one with a pole. There are two reasons why I was able to go to Mekong. 1: It was a dream come true to get the chance to catch a legendary catfish, which may become extinct. 2: Because I am a honorary member of Team Catfish. (Check out the website http://www.teamcatfish.com).
On March 1, 2010 at 2:14 pm
It was a magnificent beast of a fish!!! She and I battled for 4 & 1/2 hours before I landed that 540 pound monster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thankfully I workout and I used line that looked like a rope otherwise she would have dragged me to the depths!!!
On March 5, 2010 at 11:37 am
woow
diid yhu see datt giantt stiingrayy
dat isz crazzy lol..!!
On May 16, 2010 at 11:16 pm
I love knowing about these things. The show River Monsters on Animal Planet is VERY informative about huge fish
On May 17, 2010 at 12:04 am
wow. there are alot of intersting facts on this page. thank you.
On May 20, 2010 at 1:46 pm
in South Africa, we get Sharptooth Catfish that weigh up to 600 pounds, measuring over 20 feet long…and they are predatory
On May 24, 2010 at 2:08 am
Blue… Great name btw, by typing that you “know your stuff” you unintentionally give people the right to question how you know it. Until you have a degree that has to do with either the biology of freshwater fish or with identifying doctored photos, Shut to the Up!! You make yourself look dumb.
I like the photos. They inspire me to move to the desert!!! I also have a new appreciation for swimming pools!!
On May 29, 2010 at 2:11 am
Amazing article, I love fish. Probably because my father taught me to fish for crappie when I was 5, but thats beside the point. I know my fish pretty well and I kind of agree with Blue on one thing. The Arapaima picture looks fake, but I don’t have any proof. I just didn’t know how big they could get!
The Alligator gar freaks me out a little though. I live in north GA and its kind of strange to see a gar in the lakes there, but boy did I see one. I was smokin off the top of our dock, about 20 feet in the water, and looked down to see the biggest fish I’d ever seen in real life. To me, he looked at least 8 feet long, with abody as wide as 1ft. Big paddle tail, alligator nose. My father still doesnt believe me, but that gar is the reason I don’t swim in our lake anymore. On a moer creepy note, I found a dead striper (about 120lbs) on our shore, with teeth marks in it. Eek.
On July 18, 2010 at 1:02 am
Muy buen articulo, increible ….
On August 31, 2010 at 12:12 am
Great fishy facts
Very true indeed. Thanks for educating people
On September 3, 2010 at 10:30 am
im 8, and when i went fishing for the first time i caught a 400 pound sturgeon. it almost pulled me in so i had to give the rod to my daay and my uncle
On November 14, 2010 at 4:36 pm
look up the alligator gar if you think those are big, they can live 60 years and if given proper protection can grow to about 14 feet
On November 14, 2010 at 4:39 pm
look up the alligator gar if you think those are big, they can live 60 years and if given proper protection can grow to about 14 feet
On November 16, 2010 at 2:35 am
Actually, down here in Northern Florida where I live, were starting to find gars getting three to four feet in length, carps that are about the same size but wider* than a 16 foot boat(which I witnessed and touched for myself), and tarpons in our local rivers that are jumpiut of the water and into fishermans boats and killing people because of there enormous size and weight, and also catfish that me and my mom caught in a local dam, that was 5 1\2 feet+ in length and it took us and my dad 3 hours or more to drag it to the top near the boat and for my dad to grab it. But it wasery delicious by the way. But Mr.Mrs.Miss Blue, the fish are truly getting bigger and bigger, we just need marine biologists to come down here and figure out why there not mating anymore and why all of a sudden there are monstrous sized fish coming to the surface for everyone to see.
-Kimberly J.*
On December 9, 2010 at 11:36 pm
i live in Indonesia. i ve been the largest catfish in my life and eat them, but sure they not as large as this picture. its only 1meter and 50kg weight. they are all really tasty since there is so many of them everywhere in java island. visit here.. lol
On December 29, 2010 at 11:49 pm
As big as that cat fish in the photo huge cat fish can be found in Mequinenza water reservoir in Aragon, Spain. German fishermen brought them here years ago and they adapted really well.
On January 6, 2011 at 1:05 am
i am 66yrs old ,and just being curious like old men tend to be.some of the things i already knew, but many i did’nt. enjoyed the education very good article, you told me what i wan’t to know. thank you very much.
On January 12, 2011 at 11:25 am
Your Triond articles are being followed by The Triond Experiment blog and when your articles happen to be related to the blog posts, your article links are automatically pulled up and attached with the blog posts as “Read Related Articles”.
This article is currently showed a “Read Related Article” under Five Largest Lakes in the World .
Thanks and best of luck!
On February 6, 2011 at 1:36 am
Interesting Story Nelson Thanx. Seems everyone has a snake story to tell, and a few have great fish stories. Liked this one!
I’ve been beside a Gator bigger than my 12.5ft boat, Skinned a 5′2″ Rattlesnake, and had a 7′ Tarpon jump outta the water rite beside me (Fla), and have known about the NC Wildlife Rangers “telephoning” a 219 lb flathead catfish in the local Cape Fear River. But the one that scares me is the story my brother told me while working for Browning Trucking in Atlanta Ga, …it seems his co-worker (loading trucks) was a part-time pro scuba diver, and annually dove in Lake Lanier to measure the size of the cracks in the concrete of the dam. While making measurements at about 60 to 80 ft, something bumped into him.
Turning around he was looking into the face of a catfish which he said could have easily swallowed him. He immediately returned to the surface, telling those hiring him, that he’d not go back down there, no matter how much they paid him! Now this is a third-hand story, but hearing my brother tell it, I have no doubt that there is really something to it…And I don’t have or need any photos. Howsoever, I know that Carp, Coy, and even Goldfish are of the same type of fish (commonly called Suckers), and can have a variety of colors, if memory serves me, I believe I’ve seen those same reddish colorings on Carp… this Arapaima looks sorta like a carp to me! BTW I don’t know what Blue’s photo editing background is, but I’ve edited some of my photos to the indiviual pixel level, and never had any of the aforementioned red markings (WusHeTalkinBout?). Besides that… Yesurh, I’ma conservation full fledge Christian, that definitely don’t believe everything that’s said, or read, or heard.
But, I liked the story anyhow! _Zeke
On April 10, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Im not gonna argue but please just watch a fishing show, such as River Monsters, There are fish that can get huge! and rivers are so big and unknown that we may never find these so called \”River Monster\”………..so what im trying to say is please learn before you try to argue a point. have a nice day =)
On May 28, 2011 at 3:05 pm
How can anybody think these are fake!! I watch RiverMonsters on AnimalPlanet and the guy on there catches HUGE fish. and Iv also heard of 14ft alligator gar. there are still very large fish outthere.
On June 2, 2011 at 2:21 pm
wow amazing these are wonderful creatures, but i agree with some people on here that they should be left alone in the wild . AND BLUE APPERENTALLY YOU DONT KNOWE YOUR STUFF, THEY ARE REAL EVER BEEN TO AFRICA THERE YOU GO SEE FOR YOURSELF.
On May 16, 2012 at 10:23 pm
TheSe are all remarkable fish