Thousands of species of fish live in the seas and oceans, as well as in freshwater rivers and reservoirs. Some of them reach gigantic sizes and can be dangerous to humans, and some inhabitants of reservoirs themselves act as objects of fishing. Let's look at the largest representatives of the deep sea and present a list that includes the largest fish in the world, both marine and freshwater, and most importantly, we will find out what the largest fish in the world is. Here are the TOP 10 largest fish in the world!
10
Rotan
The river dweller, which spread from the Far East along all the rivers of Eurasia, eventually moved into aquariums. Today rotan is one of the largest aquarium fish.
This is an active predator that eats the fry of other fish, newts, and does not disdain carrion. Cannibalism is also common among them.
Under natural conditions, it bites well on earthworms, and can also serve as bait for catching larger freshwater predators.
9
Guasa
This large sea fish, growing up to 2 and a half meters, is also called the giant grouper. The largest fish caught from the Serranidae family weighed 363 kilograms.
They can be found off the islands of the Caribbean, off the coast of Brazil and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. In the 20th century, guas were actively hunted for their tasty meat, which brought them to the brink of extinction.
Now fishing for these marine fish is prohibited, and the population has quickly recovered.
8
Atlantic blue marlin
A beautiful, large fish from the sailfish family. Found in tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The distance from the tail to the tip of the “nose” reaches 5 m, and the weight can exceed 800 kg. About a fifth of the marlin's length is made up of a dense, pointed outgrowth of the upper jaw, which helps the fish in the hunting process. She suppresses her own spears and even kills the victim so that she can then calmly eat her. By the way, it feeds on fish and squid. Interestingly, in a calm state, the color of this species of marlin is dark blue on the back and silver on the sides. But during the hunt, it suddenly changes to bright blue.
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Psefur
Photo source: / CC BY-SA
Chinese paddlefish is another name for this river inhabitant that lives in the muddy waters of the Chinese Yangtze. This is one of the largest freshwater fish on the planet.
Its size is truly impressive, because adult individuals reach 3 meters in length, and at this size weigh more than 300 kilograms.
Psefurs feed on small fish and crustaceans, and in their search for food they are helped by receptors located on the long outgrowth of the upper jaw.
It is because of this feature of their structure that they received such a unique and unusual name.
1.Whale shark
The winner of the top 10 largest fish on the planet is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), whose record length is 20 m. These giants feed on krill, crab larvae, jellyfish, sardines, anchovies, small tuna and squid.
Whale sharks are a highly migratory, pelagic species that is common in all tropical seas of the world. They are also known to inhabit both deep and shallow coastal waters in subtropical zones. They are regularly found in the marine waters of Australia, Belize, Ecuador, Mexico, the Philippines and South Africa. Tags Animals of the aquatic world Fish
Beluga
This valuable breed of fish of the sturgeon family is on the verge of complete extinction, and its catching is strictly limited. Today it is the largest freshwater fish in the world, as caught specimens reached a weight of one and a half tons.
Adults can reach sizes of up to 4.3 meters. Belugas live in the seas of the European part of Russia, and enter rivers to lay eggs.
The largest fish of this breed, as eyewitnesses testify, could reach 9 meters. But scientific evidence does not confirm these data.
6
What is known about lumpfish: sparrow fish?
The fish is medium-sized: the maximum measured length was 61 centimeters. The highest recorded weight is 9.5 kilograms. The highest age is 13 years.
This sparrow fish has two important features:
- she does not have a swim bladder (we, of course, do not see this);
- On the abdomen, a large round ventral sucker formed by the ventral fins is clearly visible.
The presence of a sucker on the belly shows that the sparrow fish lives at the bottom, attaching itself to underwater objects. And the absence of a swim bladder gives it the ability to quickly float into the water column. A study of the behavior of lumpfish using electronic radio tags attached to the fish’s body showed that they spend more time at the bottom (like any bottom-dwelling fish). Sometimes they float to the middle layers of water.
Habitat, lifestyle and nutrition
Lumpfish live in the seas of the Atlantic Ocean: in its western and eastern parts. They are found not only off the North American coast, but also near Europe. They are found in Russian waters (in the White, Baltic and Kara seas). They can be found both near the coast and in the open sea. The preferred depth for lumpfish is the range from 50 to 150 meters. They can dive deeper - up to 400 meters, and during spawning they go out into shallow water.
Features of appearance
When describing the lumpfish, it is important to emphasize that it is a fish with a sucker, which looks very unusual and is noticeably different from other fish:
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- body shape is close to round due to the fact that it is short, tall and thick, only slightly compressed laterally;
- there are no scales, the body is covered with thick skin, under which there is jelly-like fat in the form of a fairly thick layer;
- on the entire body (on the sides and on the abdomen) hard tubercles, similar to thorns, are clearly visible;
- on each side of the body there are the largest tubercles, grouped in three rows and characteristic almost straight lines;
- original first dorsal fin: in adults it is completely covered with skin and looks like a fleshy protrusion on the back, resembling a comb;
- the second fin on the back has up to 13 soft rays;
- the caudal fin is medium in size, bladeless and has a rounded edge.
All of the above described features can be seen in the photo of lumpfish.
Color and gender differences
Coloring is one of the important differences between females and males of lumpfish. Females are blue-green in color, while males are usually gray or blue-gray. During the spawning period, the color of the males changes: the lower part of the body (abdomen, sucker) and fins become bright orange-red.
The length of the body is the second difference between females and males. Females can reach larger sizes (up to half a meter). Males are never larger than 30-40 centimeters. These are the maximum sizes. The usual average size of females is from 30 to 40 centimeters, males - from 25 to 30 centimeters. As an exception, an individual whose length was 61 centimeters was recorded.
Reproduction and care of offspring
Lumpfish become sexually mature at the age of 4-5 years. Depending on the habitat, spawning occurs in different months - from February to July. For example, in the White Sea, spawning is observed from May to July. By this time, lumpfish are moving very close to shallow water. Egg laying occurs among rocks and marine vegetation. The caviar is bright orange-red in color and quite large (the diameter of the egg is 27 millimeters).
Who cares for the offspring?
The lumpfish fathers take all care of the developing offspring. Females perform their important task - they lay a huge mass of eggs. While carrying ripening eggs and directly during the spawning process, females do not feed, therefore, after spawning, they hurry away from the shore - to fatten in the sea. The males remain near the eggs and show the necessary care to protect their developing offspring from all sorts of dangers:
- protect eggs from enemies;
- do not allow it to dry out; during low tide they irrigate it with water, either by releasing a stream of water from their mouth, or by hitting the water remaining between the stones with their tail.
The hatched fry continue to be under the care of their parent, who accompanies a flock of his babies everywhere.
The meaning of lumpfish for humans
This unusual bottom-dwelling fish with a sucker is an important commercial fish. It is valued for its tasty meat and caviar. In Canada and in European countries (Greenland, Norway and others), the lumpfish fishery was well developed in past years. Iceland even supplied its meat to China. Iceland even issued a 100-krona coin with the image of a lumpfish, perhaps as a symbol of the importance of this fish for the country's economy. Among other fish depicted on coins in Russia is Soldatov’s catfish.
Giant freshwater stingray
Like its marine relatives, freshwater stingrays sometimes reach gigantic sizes, and in history there have been specimens up to 4.7 meters in length and more than 2 meters in width.
They are found in the warm waters of the southern seas and in freshwater rivers of the islands of Oceania. For protection and hunting, stingrays have two sharp spines located in the tail.
It is quite difficult to catch it, as they are quite fast, and when caught, they swing their tail strongly, trying to defend themselves.
5
Common catfish
An active river predator can grow over 5 meters and weigh about 500 kilograms at this size. They mainly hunt at night, eating small fish, mollusks, and all kinds of crustaceans.
Cases have been recorded of catfish attacking small animals and waterfowl. There are many stories of catfish attacking humans.
But for the most part, attacks on people are just legends, although the likelihood is quite high that adult individuals are able to cope with a person and drag him to the bottom.
4
Blue marlin
An inhabitant of the Atlantic, the blue marlin is the largest representative of the perciforme order. Adults grow up to 5 meters, and this species was first described in 1802.
It is noteworthy that almost 20% of the length of this amazing fish is a spear, and the dorsal fin is of a very original shape and consists of 5-7 rays.
All over the world, marlins are considered a favorite trophy of sport fishing, because catching one is a great success for any angler.
3
Herring king
Because of its size and original body structure, the herring king is also called the belt fish. It lives at great depths in the Atlantic, Pacific and some parts of the Indian Ocean.
The thickness of the body does not exceed 5-6 centimeters, but the length of the herring king reaches more than 5 meters. The largest specimen of this amazing inhabitant of the ocean depths reached 11 meters in length.
But they called it that because the dorsal fins, located closer to the head, form a unique crown.
2
Great white shark
It is difficult to imagine the gigantic size of this predator in the photo, but in real life it is better to avoid meeting a white shark. This is the most dangerous and also the largest marine predator, growing up to 6 meters in length.
This type of shark is found in all oceans, feeding on fish, and poses a great danger to people. White sharks are often seen in coastal waters where the likelihood of attacking humans is high.
But the most dangerous predator on the globe also needs to be protected, because the white shark is on the verge of extinction, and now there are no more than 3,500 individuals in the oceans.
1
Moon fish
photo
The common sunfish (Mola mola) is the largest bony fish. Found in the tropical zone of all oceans. It is often more than 3 m long and weighs one and a half tons. It feeds on a variety of small marine animals, including fish larvae, crustaceans and jellyfish. It is also the record holder for the most fertile fish. One female releases up to 300 million eggs into the water. Due to its enormous size and extremely thick skin covered with bony tubercles, it has practically no enemies.
Whale shark
Of all the inhabitants of the deep ocean, the whale shark is the largest fish in the world. Their recorded length reaches 10 meters, although individuals of 12 meters or more have been encountered.
Despite their terrifying size and menacing appearance, these predators do not pose an immediate threat to humans. It is noteworthy that this species of shark can hardly live in captivity, and dies in aquariums within a few months.
These sea giants feed mainly on plankton, and scientists do not rule out that there are even larger specimens of larger weight and size on the planet.
