Worlds largest freshwater fish
- Thread starter synodontisjack
- Start date
Ramesh;2598799; said:
That's interesting. Usually the generally accepted idea - especially with very large aquatic aniamals - is that they don't grow as big in captivity.
Competition for food means the prime animals survive. The faster/bigger/smarter will be around the longest.
I would never expect a river fish to thrive in a pond. Sure they live and grow up, but it's not a good replication of the natural environment, so we shouldn't assume they will develop the same way in that situation. Also, most captive stock is fairly young compared to the natural life span of these fish in the wild. And fish will continue to grow for their entire life - though we know they do slow that rate once reaching adulthood.
Captive animals seem to be fat for the most part. They are underactive and over fed. This is not a good example of what the fish will do in the wild, so we can't really use animals raised in subprime conditions.
No they don't grow large in Captivity becuase I am not talking about aquaria like the facilities you house your fish in. Captivity is a zoo like your fqcilities where fish are feed not like in large ponds and reserves where they find there own food.
I am talking about systems like large oxbows, pond, dams and reserves that hold large amounts of water. There species like Arapaima, Trout, Bass, Barrimundi, various catfishes, Cichlid and Carp and other species prized for food or sport are stocked becuase they do exceptionally well under such conditions.
They are all prime examples of this larger size abundence e.g Bungsamlan Lake in Thailand.
All fresh water fish largely come from streams or rivers so why would you expect them not to do well?
In closed systems all over the world they thrive and because of this fact and they are introduced and stocked because they can grow fast and large under such conditions.
Closed systems like your aquaria are poor simulations of natural conditions under which fish can become trapped becuase it is you who feed them and make the fish fat.
It more natural large closed systems where predators are free to roam and hunt as they naturally would do they grow lager and faster than their relatives that live in streams and rivers. This is what the literature I am talking about supports time and again.
Otherwise why stock lakes and reserves with fish for food and sport if the river fish would not do well there??
If it didn't work and produce large, healthy fish why do they stock lakes and reserves all over the world with various river and stream species??
I agree feeding fish doesn't simulate nature but thats not how you get big, health fish.
I am talking about systems like large oxbows, pond, dams and reserves that hold large amounts of water. There species like Arapaima, Trout, Bass, Barrimundi, various catfishes, Cichlid and Carp and other species prized for food or sport are stocked becuase they do exceptionally well under such conditions.
They are all prime examples of this larger size abundence e.g Bungsamlan Lake in Thailand.
All fresh water fish largely come from streams or rivers so why would you expect them not to do well?
In closed systems all over the world they thrive and because of this fact and they are introduced and stocked because they can grow fast and large under such conditions.
Closed systems like your aquaria are poor simulations of natural conditions under which fish can become trapped becuase it is you who feed them and make the fish fat.
It more natural large closed systems where predators are free to roam and hunt as they naturally would do they grow lager and faster than their relatives that live in streams and rivers. This is what the literature I am talking about supports time and again.
Otherwise why stock lakes and reserves with fish for food and sport if the river fish would not do well there??
If it didn't work and produce large, healthy fish why do they stock lakes and reserves all over the world with various river and stream species??
I agree feeding fish doesn't simulate nature but thats not how you get big, health fish.
I consider "In captivity" to mean in an enclosed and controled area where they are depending on humans to care for them. To me, stocked in a lake is just introduction into another non native area of the wild. Those aren't being raised, they are living on their own - like you said. Most zoos in the US don't tend to raise arapaima in ponds or lakes. They are housed in tanks/displays with closed loop filters. As a result, not all arapaima cared for in captivity have become the over weight and growth stunted animals most see when thinking of large captive species.
I knew we were on the same page mate.
I am quite sure that the upper size limit achievable for alot of fish species is seen in these fish that live in such non native wild introductions.
Many stocked species reach near record or hold many of the recognised size and weight records.
This leads me to believe that the 3m plus Arapaima are certainly very rare and the 4-5m specimens simply the stuff of exaggeration.
In Thailand were they have been stocked and grown extremely well in wild like introductions into very large closed systems they have yet to broken 3m.
These fish have beed in these systems long enough (10yrs) to attain such lengths and are not eaten but released to continue their growth.
This again brings us back to the 3m plus Arapaima you have worked with and at what facilities they are at??
Because I am sure they are still there and can be quickly documented for scientific verification.
If they are not 3m it is an honest mistake that I can easily upperstand as I dive and spearfish and have done so all over the world seeing a great many large species of fish and wonderful array of others in the wild.
If they are close or over we could have new record/s for the species which is new information and is why such facilities keep these animals so they can educate and provide us with information about the species we sometimes can't get or observe in the wild.
Just do it zoodiver.
I am quite sure that the upper size limit achievable for alot of fish species is seen in these fish that live in such non native wild introductions.
Many stocked species reach near record or hold many of the recognised size and weight records.
This leads me to believe that the 3m plus Arapaima are certainly very rare and the 4-5m specimens simply the stuff of exaggeration.
In Thailand were they have been stocked and grown extremely well in wild like introductions into very large closed systems they have yet to broken 3m.
These fish have beed in these systems long enough (10yrs) to attain such lengths and are not eaten but released to continue their growth.
This again brings us back to the 3m plus Arapaima you have worked with and at what facilities they are at??
Because I am sure they are still there and can be quickly documented for scientific verification.
If they are not 3m it is an honest mistake that I can easily upperstand as I dive and spearfish and have done so all over the world seeing a great many large species of fish and wonderful array of others in the wild.
If they are close or over we could have new record/s for the species which is new information and is why such facilities keep these animals so they can educate and provide us with information about the species we sometimes can't get or observe in the wild.
Just do it zoodiver.
Did they measure the dead stock and take notes of animals in the tank??
Did they send some of the animals to Universities or Museums for data collection or so they could add them to their speciemen collections??
Some factual information about these animals must exist.
It's such a shame to loose a tank full of monsters and not to have assessed their loses properly.
Didn't they know they had some of the largest speciemens in the world??
Did they send some of the animals to Universities or Museums for data collection or so they could add them to their speciemen collections??
Some factual information about these animals must exist.
It's such a shame to loose a tank full of monsters and not to have assessed their loses properly.
Didn't they know they had some of the largest speciemens in the world??
Often times places that lose stock like that don't want to talk about the mistake or share details about it. Documenting the dead ones would only draw attention to the accident and create an issue for them from groups like PETA and the like.
As for knowing they had the largest.... the keepers probably are going by the idea that they usually get to that size if kept right, so nobody would have felt the added urge to make note of it.
As for knowing they had the largest.... the keepers probably are going by the idea that they usually get to that size if kept right, so nobody would have felt the added urge to make note of it.
