Captured just before midnight on November 13 by fishers in Cambodia, this Mekong giant catfish is 8 feet long (2.4 meters long) ands weighs 450 pounds (204 kilograms).After collecting data on the fish, Hogan, a fisheries biologist at the University of Reno in Nevada, released it unharmed.
Giant catfish were once plentiful throughout Southeast Asia's Mekong River watershed, including the Tonle Sap River—home of the fish in these pictures taken near Phnom Penh.
But in the last century the Mekong giant catfish population has declined by 95 to 99 percent, scientists say. Only a few hundred adult giant catfish may remain.
More pictures after the jump.
Source: National Geographic
Tags: Catfish | Mekong
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