The world's largest fish. Giant river monsters (20 photos)

The underwater world is very beautiful and diverse. He has always attracted people with his unknownness and mystery. There are all kinds of inhabitants in lakes, seas, oceans and small bodies of water. They all differ in structure, size, color and behavior. Watching the underwater world is very interesting. Its inhabitants have their own lives, with their own rules and routines. Humanity has always been interested in the question of what is the most big fish on the planet. Let's try to answer it in this article.

This giant has one peculiarity. Her swim bladder and pharynx are covered with lung tissue. This allows the fish to breathe normal air and survive the drought safely. Sometimes the arapaya rises to the surface to take a breath of oxygen. This process lasts about 2 seconds and is repeated every 10-15 minutes.

Shilbovy catfish

This is not the largest fish, but it is also one of the giants water world. The catfish can grow up to three meters tall and weigh up to 300 kilograms. It is found in Southeast Asia. Despite its size, this fish is not a predator. They have no teeth and feed on algae and, when young, zooplankton. The desire of local fishermen to catch big fish led to its partial extermination. There are very few habitats left for this giant.

Mississippi girt

This is another representative of large fish. The Mississippi shellfish is found in the waters of North and Central America. The mouth of this fish resembles the mouth of an alligator. The carapace reaches a length of three meters. Its weight can reach up to 150 kilograms. The special structure of the teeth has secured the reputation of this fish as an excellent predator. It has two rows of teeth that resemble fangs. The Mississippian shellfish has a very intimidating and menacing appearance.

Bull shark

This fish can also be classified as the giant of rivers and lakes. Yes it is freshwater inhabitant, however, the shark can live in salt water. If a river or lake is connected to the ocean or sea, then this giant easily changes its place of residence. The length of the bull shark reaches 3.5 meters. Weight Limit, which was recorded, is about 200 kilograms. This fish is also distinguished by its very aggressive character, so meeting it is fraught with great danger.

The world underwater is diverse and magnificent. He always intrigued people with his unknown nature. The inhabitants of lakes, seas, oceans and other bodies of water are so diverse that they are simply amazing. They differ in size, structure, feeding method, coloring and behavior. It’s incredibly interesting to watch this world, because the inhabitants have their own lives, their own rules. Let's try to find out what the biggest fish in the world are. You can meet large fish in various bodies of water: salty and fresh waters. In this article we will look at the largest fish that humanity has encountered.

Large representatives of the world's oceans

Among the specimens living in the world's oceans, there are fish of simply incredible size. It's hard to imagine that they can grow to such an impressive length. Many people believe that the largest fish is a whale, but this is not entirely correct. The whale is a member of the mammal family, which means it is not a member of the fish family.

The largest fish in the world is the whale shark, representatives of this species can reach large sizes, some grow up to 12 meters. IN wildlife it grows slower than in an aquarium, this is due to a large number food provided in aquariums. There is an aquarium in Taiwan where a shark lives, adding 1 cm every day; it feeds on plankton and small fish; in one hour it can pass up to 6,000 cubic meters of water through its gills. The whale is distinguished by its small head size, which is strongly flattened. The teeth are small, but their number is incredibly huge, can reach up to 15 thousand.

According to unconfirmed reports, in the ocean you can find a representative weighing about 35 tons and up to 20 meters long

The basking shark ranks second in size and can easily be called the largest fish on earth. The giant shark reaches an average length of 10 meters and weighs about 5 tons. The largest specimen that a person saw was more than 12 meters in length and weighed 9 tons. It is interesting that such a shark was caught in a herring net. Currently, such large individuals are no longer found, the reason for this was large-scale fishing for basking sharks. The giant feeds differently from the majority of sharks; it does not absorb food, but filters everything that gets into it due to the fact that it swims with its mouth open.

A giant shark's stomach can hold half a ton of food.

In another way, this representative can be called the herring king. This is an unusual and longest fish in the world. It is often confused with sea snake, the thickness of the body is only 5 cm with a body length of up to 5 meters. The belt fish can be seen swimming among the herring, which is how it got its second name. Unusual shape a fish often attracts a person; after catching one of its representatives, many people want to capture this event.

The belt fish is believed to be a harbinger of earthquakes

This individual consists of large quantity bones and reaches large sizes - up to 3 meters in length and 1.5 tons in weight. Its body looks like a flat circle, with equal length and width.

The mouth is always open due to the fact that the mouth is beak-shaped due to the fused teeth.

The teeth have grown together to form a beak, which does not close completely, and it turns out that the mouth is always slightly open.

Another record of this representative is fertility. At one time, caviar contains several hundred million eggs.

You can meet it in all oceans, but its favorite pastime is at a depth of 200 meters at a water temperature no warmer than 10 degrees. Of modern large-sized fish, the moonfish is the most harmless for humans and does not pose a danger.

Sunfish have no scales

The giant grouper is often found in shallow waters in the tropics and can reach lengths of up to 2.5 meters. Guasa is considered an endangered species and is prohibited for fishing. Thanks to this ban, the grouper population began to increase. Guasa is able to protect its territory from invasion, it becomes aggressive and can even attack a person. The giant grouper can be called a predator.

The diet of the giant grouper includes various fish, small turtles and octopuses

Blue marlin

Blue marlin is one of the largest fish in the world. It reaches 5 meters in length. Females are much larger than males. Marlin lives in the Atlantic Ocean and is considered a favorite prey for sports fishing enthusiasts; catching it is considered great luck.

The largest predatory fish is large white shark, its length reaches 6 meters. The great white shark lives in the ocean and poses a serious danger to humans, as it loves coastal water, as a result of which it often attacks people. The white shark is a rare species; their population is very small. Average duration The life of a white shark is about 70 years, puberty in females it occurs only at 33 years of age, and in males at 26.

A great white shark attacks a person, but only when he invades its hunting territory

Freshwater giants

Marine inhabitants, of course, are the most diverse and numerous, but river representatives can also amaze with their size and uniqueness. Therefore, when fishing in unfamiliar places, you need to take safety measures so as not to become a victim of some giant. No one knows how big the catfish in a nearby lake or river could grow to.

The biggest freshwater fish- this is arapaima. It grows up to 2 meters in length, but there is a legend in which a fisherman was lucky enough to catch an arapaima 4.5 meters long. This fish has large scales and large plates on its head. Interestingly, scales are many times stronger than bone. Main feature this representative water element the fact that she breathes ordinary air, like mammals, she inhales so loudly that it can be heard from afar.

Once every 20 minutes, the arapaima floats to the surface to take a sip. fresh air

The catfish grows up to 4 meters, and its weight can reach 300 kg. This fish has no scales; depending on its habitat, the color of the surface of the catfish’s body changes. The color can be: yellow, black, most often brown. They feed mainly on small fish and crustaceans. There are even known cases of attacks on humans. In winter, active activity decreases, catfish do not feed, gather in groups and wait out the cold times in pits.

Sexual maturity in the common catfish is reached at 3-4 years of age.

Giant freshwater stingray

It poses no danger to humans if handled correctly. On its tail there are two large thorns. With one he holds the victim, with the other he injects poison. When fishing, it always swings its tail, so you should be extremely careful.

In the list of “Largest Freshwater Fish,” the beluga comes first. It belongs to the sturgeon family. This fish lives in the sea, but enters rivers to spawn. Some of the belugas spend the winter in rivers. She is a long-liver, tracking the age of some individuals, scientists have come to the conclusion that the beluga can live up to 100 years. The fish has a thick, cylinder-shaped body of ash-gray color. She is predatory fish, fishing is prohibited.

Beluga caviar is the most valuable in the world

Carp

Carp lives in freshwater; the main condition is that the reservoir has no current and the bottom is muddy. The body is covered with small scales. The largest carp caught by a person weighed 48 kg. It feeds on reed shoots, aquatic plants, mollusks and even the eggs of other fish.

The third largest among the sturgeon family. The fish is quite aggressive, its color has white spots on the sides and on the back. The white sturgeon can reach 5-6 meters in length and weigh about 800 kg. They live for quite a long time, their age can reach 110 years, sexual maturity occurs no earlier than 14 years for males, and no earlier than 18 years for females.

White sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish in the United States

Siberian taimen, or Russian salmon, belongs to the salmon family. She rightfully holds the title of the largest salmon in the world. The length of the fish can reach 1.5-2 meters, weight - 70-80 kg. It feeds on all smaller fish. The color varies, but the head is always olive green and the tail is red. Taimen grows larger than other salmon thanks to long duration life.

IN mating season taimen acquires a copper-red color throughout the body

Giants living in an aquarium

Large representatives can also be found in aquariums. Some people prefer to keep rather large pets. We will talk about three representatives of the aquarium world.

More familiar like pangasius. Shark catfish is considered the largest aquarium representative. In an artificial environment, its size is much smaller - 50-70 cm - than the size of fish in the wild - up to 1 meter. Outwardly it looks like a shark, which is why the catfish got the name shark. Large catfish require a large aquarium to move freely.

The fish is very shy and can even faint for up to 20 minutes.

Among the major aquarium fish It is worth noting the armored pike. In an aquarium, its size directly depends on the conditions created; being in a small aquarium, a pike begins to grow in width; in the wild it grows much larger - up to 1.5 meters in length. It is not advisable to keep the armored pike in an aquarium with other fish, as it can be aggressive towards them. The fish has long and strong jaws, gray body covered with dark gray or black spots, hard scales.

The armored pike lives no more than 20 years

Distributed in the Amazon basin. The color can be different: gray, brown, black, with scattered yellow spots. A special artificially bred species is popular for aquariums; this astronotus has a red color. It quickly gets used to people and allows itself to be fed from the palm of your hand. The ocellated Astronotus is unique in its behavior; it sometimes allows itself to be stroked, but with sudden movements it senses danger and, in defense, can bite its owner. In nature, there are individuals that reach 45 cm, but in an aquarium their size does not exceed 25 cm.

The average lifespan of the ocellated astronotus is 18 years

We told you what the biggest fish in the world is. Our Earth is inhabited by many unusual creatures, each of which is unique. Such individuals are admired, scientists study them. Each representative of the fish element has its own size, color, and vital features.

Reading time: 9 min.

The watery expanses of our planet hide huge monsters - fish that frighten with their size. Some of them pose no danger to humans and are hunted, others are ferocious predators that can easily fend for themselves. The Big Rating portal would like to present to your attention a list of the largest fish in the world. Giants are considered to be those individuals that reach a length of more than two meters, and their weight is more than one hundredweight.

Giant grouper or guasa

Average length - more than 2.5 meters
The giant grouper or guasa occupied the last line of the rating. Its distribution range is tropical shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea, and it is also sometimes found in coastal waters Brazil. Its length is two and a half meters, this is the average for this species. The food for grouper is sea turtle and octopus. Giant groupers are listed in the Red Book, and their catching is punishable by law. The inclusion of rare species in the book has borne fruit - the fish population is gradually increasing. This species is dangerous to humans; if anyone swims into the territory of an individual, it will immediately defend it.

Psephur or Chinese dragonfish

Average length - 3 meters
This fish is found in the waters of the Yangtze River, it is the largest representative of the ray-finned class, which is found in fresh water. The length of the Chinese billfish is 3 meters, and its weight sometimes reaches three hundred kilograms. According to unconfirmed reports, 7-meter psefurs were also caught, but there is no evidence other than the words of fishermen. The food for the Chinese bullfish is crustaceans and small fish. This is an endangered species that has not been seen anywhere other than the waters of the Yangtze River.

Average length - 2 meters
is the largest and most unusual bony fish, it is found in the warm waters of all the seas of the Earth. Its habitat is very wide - it can be observed in the waters Kuril Islands and you might as well see it off the coast of Iceland. This fish has a very strange structure body: it is compressed on the sides and looks similar to the halo of the Moon's disk. Instead of scales, the fish has small bony tubercles. With a length of more than two meters, the fish can weigh about one and a half tons. According to official data, a three-meter specimen was spotted, and there are also rumors that a four-meter long sunfish was seen in Sydney. This fish is not dangerous to humans; on the contrary, it is an object of hunting and fishing for fishermen.

Average length – 3 meters
This fish is found in fresh waters and today this species is on the verge of extinction. Its habitat is the Azov, Caspian and Black Seas. Fish was the object of fishing for a long time, beluga caviar was one of the most expensive delicacies. In 1989, a fish 4.2 meters long was caught on the Volga River, its weight was a thousand kilograms. Now a stuffed animal of this fish is housed in the Astrakhan museum. Beluga can live up to hundreds of years, this unique fish during spawning it lays up to 50 thousand eggs. It feeds on small fish and poses no danger to humans.

Average length - 4.5 meters
In sixth place in our ranking is a giant freshwater stingray. Sea stingray very popular, but much fewer people know about its huge freshwater brothers. It lives in the waters of rivers in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The average specimen is 4.5 meters long and weighs 450–500 kilograms. The giant freshwater stingray is also found in the coastal waters of Australia, New Guinea and the island of Borneo. Stingrays are not dangerous to people if handled with care. On your tail freshwater stingray two huge spines that perform different functions: one spine holds prey, and the second injects poisonous substance. When catching stingrays, you need to be as careful as possible; they swing their tail so intensely that they can injure you.

Average length - 5 meters
The common catfish is one of the largest freshwater fish and is in fifth position on our list. The length of this giant sometimes reaches five meters, and it can weigh up to 500 kilograms. This fish is a predator that hunts at night and rests during the day. Its diet consists of fish, shellfish and crustaceans. The largest specimens attack birds and small animals. There are many legends associated with these fish, allegedly they can hunt people, but there is no official confirmation of this. But purely theoretically, big catfish can drag down a person caught in a net.

Blue marlin

Average length - 5 meters
In appearance, this fish is very beautiful, even with its enormous size. The huge length of 5 meters is truly daunting, with one fifth of the length being the spear. The difference in size between females and males is clearly expressed; females are much larger. The habitat of this giant is the Atlantic Ocean. Marlins are the most favorite fish among professional fishermen. If you manage to catch a blue marlin, consider yourself very lucky. Ernest Hemingway, in his legendary story “The Old Man and the Sea,” described the confrontation between an old fisherman and a blue marlin.

Average length -11 meters
This is a very unusual-looking fish and its length is especially striking - 11 meters. Its habitat is Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. In appearance, the herring king looks like a huge sea snake. With a body thickness of 5 cm, this fish can reach up to 5.5 m in length. According to unconfirmed reports, specimens up to 17 meters have been found. The belt fish is called the herring king, which is not at all accidental. This fish is often seen swimming in a school of herring, and the elongated rays dorsal fin, look like a kind of “crown”.

Average length - 6 meters
The biggest and most dangerous sea predator- white shark. The average size of this cartilaginous fish- 4.6 meters, but it is documented that individuals were caught that exceeded 6 meters in length. The weight of a great white shark can reach several thousand kilograms. This fish poses a great danger to humans. It can hunt in coastal waters and is quite capable of attacking humans. This is explained by the fact that this fish has a very poor eyesight, and she may confuse a person with a huge turtle, or something that can threaten. Cases have been recorded of white sharks attacking fishermen's boats. Her diet includes big fish, dolphins, pinnipeds, sea turtles and birds. This is an endangered species; the white shark population is 3.5 thousand individuals.

Average length - 10 meters
At the top of our list, without a doubt, is the whale shark - the largest fish in the world. The average individual reaches 10 meters in length, but specimens of 12 meters have also been recorded. Science does not deny the existence of larger whale sharks, which reach 19-20 meters in length. This fish is not dangerous for humans, even with such monstrous sizes, since its main diet is plankton. This is one of the most calm fish- scuba divers can touch her without any fear, you can even ride on her back.

Thousands and tens of thousands of fish species live in the seas and oceans, rivers and lakes of the Earth. Many of them amaze people with their unusual abilities or fantastic appearance.

Among the fish there are real record holders for the largest; We included them in our top 10 largest fish in the world. Of course, whales were not included in our top list, because a whale is not a fish, but a mammal. When compiling the rating, we decided to take into account both the body length of the fish and its mass.

Otherwise, this fish is called belt fish. It is found in the warm waters of all oceans except the Arctic. This funny name is explained by its appearance: a large fin resembling a crown grows on its head, and the giant is usually found in schools of herring.

The body of the herring king resembles a ribbon. Its length is about three and a half meters (although there are individuals of five, six and even eleven meters), height - 25 cm, and thickness - 5 cm. The largest belt fish is listed in the Guinness Book of Records, its length is 11 m, and its weight is 272 kg.

The meat is usually not eaten, although it is not poisonous.

9 Common catfish

One of the largest freshwater fish lives in all European reservoirs of Russia, except the Northern Arctic Ocean. The body length of a catfish can reach 5 meters; The weight of such a fish will be at least 400 kg. It is a valuable game fish; There are complex fairy tales, proverbs and riddles about catfish (for example, “There are no two catfish in one pool”).

This is thick brown fish(sometimes also black, light yellow and even albino) with a wonderful mustache; Catfish have no scales.

Catfish feed not only on plankton and crustaceans, but also on live fish, shellfish, and can catch waterfowl or small domestic animals.

8 Atlantic blue marlin

True to their name, these beauties live in warm waters Atlantic Ocean. Particularly common in the tropics. The female marlin is a quarter larger than the male of the same species and reaches a length of five meters; the heaviest fish caught weighed 818 kg.

Marlin meat is considered valuable because it is quite fatty and is especially appreciated by fans Japanese cuisine. That's why too many marlin are caught for cooking gourmet dishes, and nowadays marlins are endangered.

Blue marlin has a blue or blue color with silvery sides, on the head there is a kind of “spear”, very long and strong (its length is up to 20% of the body). Despite their frightening appearance, marlins are not very aggressive, however, few people have a desire to get involved with this fish. The only enemies of marlin are large sharks. He himself hunts for shellfish, squid, and mackerel.

Interestingly, the image of this fish adorns the coat of arms of the Bahamas.

7 Moonfish

Finding out what the biggest fish in the world is, we learned about this amazing creature, like a moon fish. It belongs to the pufferfish. With a relatively short length of 3.3 m, it weighs more than two tons. Moon fish prefers warm waters oceans, feeds on jellyfish and algae.

Moonfish swim poorly because they do not have a swim bladder. To turn, they are forced to spit out a powerful stream of water from their mouth; the moon can make small turns with the help of its fins; they don't have a tail.

And moon fish can “talk”: make strange sounds with their teeth. The fish's mouth ends in a beak.

The meat of the moon fish cannot be eaten: although it is not poisonous, it tastes unpleasant. Despite the outlandish appearance, sunfish are rarely kept in aquariums: they sometimes break when they hit the glass.

6 Huge Tiger Shark

Tiger sharks often called leopards: their exquisite coloring is reminiscent of both large cats. These live dangerous predators in tropical or subtropical waters; There are especially many of them in the Pacific Ocean.

It is interesting that these fish are viviparous, sometimes they bring eighty small sharks at once.

Reaching five and a half meters in length, tiger sharks are dangerous even to humans, although the basis of their diet consists of fish, sea snakes, cephalopods, turtles - and everything that comes into the sea!

These predators have a huge mouth, and each tooth is equipped with a jagged blade that can cut through a turtle's shell. Females are larger than males and can reach a weight of one and a half tons with a length of more than five meters. There are reports that there are tiger sharks 9 m in length, but they are not confirmed.

Dangerous predators often attack people. Fortunately, in most cases, victims manage to survive. There are especially many attacks in Hawaii.

However, sharks themselves suffer a lot from humans. Tiger sharks are caught for their meat, as well as their skin and fins; Sometimes they are kept in aquariums, but in captivity sharks do not live very long.

5 The white shark is a huge fish

This one of the largest sharks is often called the man-eating shark. It is found in all oceans of the earth except the Arctic Ocean. The largest white shark caught was more than 6 m long and weighed about two tons. However, they claim that a shark more than seven meters long was caught off the coast of Australia.

Naturally, these are predators. White sharks mainly eat marine mammals, but will not refuse other food. Unlike other sharks, whites usually hunt during the day.

The shark's color is white only in the belly area, and its back and sides are gray. Three rows of serrated teeth make it easy to tear off a piece of any prey. Oddly enough, the bite force of this hunter is small and almost three times less than that of the Nile crocodile.

This predator is considered the most dangerous for people: over twenty years, almost 140 cases of fish attacks on humans have been recorded; 29 people died. However, people are not the favorite prey of sharks.

4 Freshwater Beluga

Beluga is the largest freshwater fish. It is part of the sturgeon family and is listed in the Red Book. She lives in the rivers and Caspian, Black and Seas of Azov(depending on the time of year and life cycle).

Its length is usually more than 4 m, and its weight is about one and a half tons, although a beluga nine meters long and weighing 2 tons has been described.

This fish is a predator; feeds on mollusks and small fish.

At the moment there are not many individuals of this species left. Of course, this is explained by the fact that belugas often interbreed with closely related sturgeons (sterlet, etc.). But main danger- Human. Because of their tender meat and delicious-tasting caviar, beluga whales often become the prey of poachers. A kilogram of beluga caviar cost seven thousand euros on the black market ten years ago.

3 Manta rays are the largest of the rays

Manta rays are the largest of the rays. After all, the span of some of them can be 9 meters, and as for the mass, it is not small either - 3 tons.

This creature is unique in that it is the only vertebrate that has three pairs of functioning limbs.

Manta rays can be found in all warm oceans from temperate to tropical latitudes. These swim amazing fish, making peculiar flapping movements of its fins, as if with wings. Sometimes they jump out of the water and even do somersaults. The reasons for such actions are unknown.

And again, a representative of the shark family appears in our ranking. Otherwise they are called blue sharks. Registered most large size females of this species are 9.8 m. But, according to unconfirmed reports, they can reach 15 m. The largest recorded weight is 4 tons

Despite their terrifying size, giant sharks are not at all dangerous to people. Often divers swim right next to it, and the only thing people should be afraid of is the sharp growths on the scales.

Feeds giant shark plankton. She simply opens her mouth and water passes through her, leaving up to 500 kg of food in her stomach

1 Whale shark is the largest fish

See the photo yourself big fish in the world. This is a whale shark, the size of which can even reach twenty meters! Slow and peaceful, she feeds exclusively on plankton and does not pay any attention to people who may swim around her, touch her and even ride on her back.

The largest fish in the world, the whale shark, is very rare species, after all long time they were commercial fish. And now they are hunted by poachers.

U whale shark a peculiar flattened muzzle, and in a wide mouth up to fifteen thousand small one and a half centimeter teeth. Strangely, the liver of this fish is much smaller than that of other sharks (in a giant shark, for example, the liver makes up one fifth of its total weight, this gives it buoyancy).

The whale shark prefers water with a temperature of 20 to 25 degrees and even cooler. Most of these fish are found near Taiwan and the eastern coast of Africa.