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The world of fish is surprisingly diverse. Among the species there are giant predators and harmless small fish that eat algae. The underwater ocean world has not been fully studied. The description of freshwater inhabitants is presented by scientists in more detail. Based on the data available today, a rating of the largest fish in the world has been compiled. A short review presents giants of aquatic fauna over two meters long. Each has a special character, taste preferences.

1. Moonfish (2 m)

The sunfish has an unusual, laterally flattened shape. It weighs up to a ton and its brain is the size of a walnut. The giant feeds on plankton, fry, eggs and larvae of other fish. The sunfish does not have a traditional tail, instead it has a frill around its rounded body. The large fish lives in warm sea waters. In Asian countries, it is made into a delicacy, but in Europe and Australia it is not recognized due to the huge number of parasites in the meat.

The largest sunfish was caught off Indonesia, weighing 2.2 tons and about 3 meters long. A huge four-meter sunfish was spotted off Sydney. They live separately, and only flock together during the breeding season. Each female lays up to a million eggs. They serve as food for many predators. The population of exotic fish on the planet is small.

2. Giant grouper or guasa (2.5 m)

The giant grouper from the family of marine fish “Serranidae” can be found on the coast of Brazil, in the Caribbean Sea. Fishermen call the giants, growing up to two and a half meters, by the affectionate word “guasa”. The maximum recorded weight of the predatory fish is 363 kilograms. It was exterminated for many years because of its tasty dense meat.

In recent years, grouper fishing has been banned, and the population is gradually recovering. The grouper lives in coastal reefs and aggressively defends its territory. It is distinguished by its massive body and spiky gill covers. It eats turtles and fish.

3. Psefur or Chinese scaly-nosed …

The river psefur, a large inhabitant of China’s main river, the Yangtze, is called “paddlefish” by Russian fishermen. The fish from the sturgeon family reaches three meters in length and has an elongated nose reminiscent of a bird’s beak. Chinese specimens often reach a weight of 200 kilograms. The agile and large fish swims a lot, opening its mouth wide, plankton and small fish fall into it. The registered record is 7 meters and 300 kilograms.

The paddlefish is an endangered species, with the increase in industrial emissions reducing the food supply of the psefur. A variety of two-meter paddlefish is found on the North American continent in the Mississippi River basin.

4. Beluga (4.2 m)

The predatory Beluga is the largest representative of the sturgeon family. In fiction, there are descriptions of 10-meter specimens that lived in the Volga. The officially registered record is 4 meters 20 centimeters, weighing more than a ton. The large-bodied, whiskered fish with a sharp nose fattens alone, feeds on various types of fish, plankton. It lives in inland seas into which freshwater rivers flow (Caspian, Black, Adriatic, Azov). It rises to the riverbeds to spawn. There, the beluga becomes an object of interest for fishermen.

Belugas are bred artificially in Turkey, Bulgaria, and on the banks of the Danube in Serbia. Large beluga are crossed with other sturgeon species, producing stable species that can spawn near megalopolises.

5. Giant freshwater stingray (4.5 m)

The giant freshwater stingray is found in muddy rivers in most East Asian countries. Australia, New Guinea, Borneo. The largest river stingray was caught two years ago in China, its weight reached half a ton, the length of the body from the nose to the tip of the tail is 4.5 meters.

The tail of the fish has dangerous spikes that shoot poisonous needles in moments of danger. With a blow of the tail, the stingray pierces the skin of a bull or the bottom of a boat with a sharp spike (up to 40 cm long). Bathers and fishermen often become victims of stingrays. No one specially fishes for river stingrays, but these predators themselves get caught in nets while chasing prey.

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