It took three biologists to pull a 109kg fish from the Detroit River in Michigan last May. The giant sturgeon was 2.1 meters long and expected to be over 100 years old. But can it be said that this fish is the largest freshwater fish in the world?
The Detroit river fish is a sturgeon, and although the recently caught fish is considered one of the largest in the United States, there are much larger freshwater fish around the world. Read also Stranger than fiction: the methods of fishing and mating of troll fish are beyond description Leakage of psychotropic drugs into waterways poses a threat to fish Researcher Sana El-Sayed leads a team to discover marine fish fossils in the Eastern Desert of Egypt A recent study: Fish swallowed micro plastics for 70 years
Beluga sturgeon
According to the US Geological Survey, the beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) is the largest freshwater fish on the planet, and it lives between Europe and Asia in the Black Sea, Azov and Caspian Seas, as well as the rivers that drain into them.
Sturgeons lived alongside dinosaurs, and thus it can be said that they existed on planet Earth more than 250 million years ago. The Beluga sturgeon can reach a length of more than 8 meters, and a weight of two thousand kilograms.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature) ranks beluga sturgeon at the top of the food chain, as they eat fish such as carp, roach, waterfowl and even seals, and can live for more than 100 years, giving them plenty of room Time to grow more and more.
The beluga is the largest of the 27 species of fish, including other types of sturgeon and paddlefish that survive to this day.
The beluga sturgeon has been listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as one of the most endangered species.
The female beluga sturgeon earns its value from the price of its eggs, which are sold in the form of caviar and are worth more than 8 thousand dollars per kilogram.
white sturgeon
The white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) is known as the largest sturgeon fish known in the United States at the present time, and according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the white sturgeon is distinguished by a stable population that keeps it off the endangered species list.
Like other freshwater fish, this type of giant fish is threatened by building dams that impede the movement of fish and prevent them from swimming in the source so that they can reach their breeding areas, in addition to changing the environmental conditions of the river, which is the original home of these fish.
Beluga fish and white sturgeon are known as freshwater fish because they are born and breed in freshwater, but they also live in saltwater environments.
giant catfish
What about the largest fish that live only in fresh water? The giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), native to the Mekong River in Southeast Asia, holds the record as the largest fish living only in freshwater, as it can reach 3 meters in length and weigh 293 kilograms.
According to report a published on the “Live Science” website, the International Union for Conservation of Environment classifies the giant catfish as an endangered species, like the beluga sturgeon, as a result of building dams and overfishing.