5 More of The Largest Freshwater Fish In The World Part 4

In this video I will be going through 5 of the largest freshwater fish in the world. There are many giant freshwater fish in the worlds rivers and lakes but what fish is the biggest freshwater fish in the world? This is actually a very hard question to answer as monster fish come in many different shapes and sizes and two fish from the same species can vary in size drastically from one another.

So in this video I will be going through 5 river monsters that are thought to be the largest freshwater fish in the world. I will be including the muskie or muskellunge, the blue catfish, the payara, the American paddlefish and the interesting predatory barramundi.

The first giant fish on the list is the muskellunge. The muskellunge or muskie is the largest member of the pike family and the pike family all look very similar to each other. The northern pike and the muskellunge are so similar to each other in fact that they can actually breed with each other to create the tiger muskie. The muskellunge is a true apex predator and is one of the largest freshwater fish in north America.

For our second monster fish we will be heading over Australia as we have the barramundi. The barramundi is a large predatory fish that can be found in both freshwater and marine conditions. The barramundi has a very interesting life cycle as most individuals are actually born male before transforming into females. In almost the opposite way to salmon, barramundi hatch in the ocean before moving up river and returning to the ocean to spawn. The barramundi is near the top of the food chain but has to look out for saltwater crocodiles.

For our next large fish we will move back up to north America as we have the blue catfish. The blue catfish is north Americas largest catfish and is often confused with the channel catfish but there are a few ways to tell them apart including their colour and the number of rays on their fins. The blue catfish is one of the few predatory fish in the Mississippi river that can prey on the invasive Asian carp. This species is truly one of the largest freshwater catfish in the world.

For the next monster fish we will move back down to south America as we have the payara. The payara is infamous for one reason and one reason only, it's teeth but actually poses no threat to humans as it preys on other fish. The payaras teeth are so large that it needs holes in the roof of it's mouth so that it can close it's mouth when swimming. Although the payara isn't the largest predatory fish on this list, it is one of the meanest.

For our final river monster we will be heading back up to north America as we have the American paddlefish. The American paddle fish is related to sturgeons and is now the last living paddlefish in the world after the Chinese paddlefish was declared extinct in recent years. The American paddlefish is a true prehistoric fish as their fossils date back 125 million years back to the early cretaceous period when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The paddlefish's numbers are now in decline due to over fishing and illegal poaching due to the demand foe their caviar. There are numerous conservation efforts to help this species and hopefully their numbers will bounce back in the future.

What do you think the biggest freshwater fish in the world is?
Let me know down in the comments below?

Thanks for watching hope you enjoyed :)