When we talk about fish, we usually mean their taste, not their size. However, the largest fish in the world are so big that they can swallow the tallest man on Earth and still have room for a snack. Don't believe us? We'll prove it.
10. Giant sunfish - 3 meters long
This fish, which belongs to the sunfish species, was discovered only recently, in 2014. And therefore, little is known about its lifestyle. It is only clear that it is one of the largest fish in the world. And the heaviest, because it weighs up to 2 tons, which is comparable to the weight of an adult elephant.
Mola tecta, as scientists have named it, is the first new sunfish species discovered in 130 years.
9. Common sunfish - 3.4 m
For residents of Korea, Japan and Taiwan, this sea giant is a delicious delicacy. In honor of the sharp-tailed sunfish, Taiwan even holds large-scale culinary festivals that attract hundreds of tourists. The fish itself is unlikely to be happy about this, but who asks the opinion of food?
Because of the characteristic shape of its fins, this good-natured and clumsy fish is sometimes confused with a shark. But it is difficult to confuse the sharp-tailed sunfish with others, because of the special shape of its tail. It looks like a pointed protrusion.
8. Beluga - 4.2 m
The largest freshwater fish is about to "roar like a beluga" because it is endangered. The beluga's habitat is limited to the Black, Caspian and Azov seas. People intensively exploit this species to obtain black caviar - a very expensive and rare delicacy.
Unregulated fishing and poaching have significantly reduced beluga populations, creating an urgent need to protect them from commercial exploitation.
By the way, the expression “to roar like a beluga” is actually associated with another predatory fish – the toothed whale beluga.
According to unconfirmed information, belugas can grow much larger than 4 and even 5 meters. The largest specimen allegedly reached 9 meters.
7. Atlantic Blue Marlin - 5 m
This giant, which lives in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, has virtually no natural enemies. And it would multiply and reproduce without hindrance, if not for the most terrible predator on Earth - man. For people, blue marlin is just prey. In one of the best countries for fishing - Cuba - there is even a fishing tournament named after Ernest Hemingway. And it is dedicated specifically to catching blue marlin, which the famous writer loved to do during his life.
6. Reef Manta - 5.5 meters wide
This is one of the largest fish living in the world today. This species of ray, also known as Manta alfredi, is commonly found in tropical and subtropical marine waters, but is absent from the eastern Pacific Ocean and the western Atlantic Ocean.
The fish can weigh up to 1.4 tons, and its huge pectoral fins together with the body form a disk reaching up to 5.5 m in width. At the same time, the length of the manta's body is approximately 2.4 times less than its width.
First of all, Manta alfredi consumes zooplankton and does not pose a danger to humans. Previously, there were rumors that such a large ray could swallow a person or crush him, "embracing" him with its wing-fins.
5. Great White Shark - 6.4 m
It is impossible to accurately measure the length of a great white shark, as few people would be willing to approach this living killing machine with a tape measure. According to unconfirmed information, the length of a great white shark can reach 10 meters, but the recorded record is 6.4 meters.
It may not be the largest fish in the world, but it is certainly the most dangerous. Most shark-related attacks on people are caused by the great white shark. It most often crosses paths with people in coastal waters. Incidentally, Steven Spielberg's famous film Jaws is about a giant man-eating great white shark.
Of course, in real life, humans are not a favorite delicacy of great white sharks, but unprovoked attacks on swimmers and fishermen by this dangerous predator are quite common.
The great white shark is the most feared predator in its ecosystem, although killer whales are a worthy competitor to them, and sometimes even kill due to teamwork and speed of action. It is a pity that killer whales are not fish, but mammals, otherwise they would take a worthy place in our list of the largest fish in the world. The video clearly shows the differences between a great white shark and a killer whale.
4. Sawfish - 7 m
These little-studied cartilaginous fish grow to enormous sizes, but most of their length consists of long, saw-like snouts.
In appearance, the sawfish resembles a sawnose shark. However, the latter could very well call the rays "fry" and argue that "it was better before." And all because sawfish appeared much earlier than sawfish - at the border of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, while sawfish appeared 60 million years later.
These fish are big fans of fishing in muddy water, literally. Sawfish spend most of their lives near the bottom, not caring what's going on on the surface. And while young individuals prefer shallow water, adult sawfish dive to depths of up to 40 meters or more.
3. Basking shark - 9.8 m
The third largest fish in the world. In the photo it looks menacing, but in reality it is a harmless creature, whose diet consists of plankton. The giant shark feeds at the surface of the water, as if basking in the sun, hence its second name - "sunfish".
Years of intensive commercial exploitation for food, shark liver oil and shark fin production, and many other factors have greatly reduced the population of this species.
2. Herring King - 11 m
Move over, rays and sharks, this is the king of fish in terms of body length. The largest specimens ever caught were 7 and 11 meters long. The herring king even made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the longest living bony fish.
However, the fish received its name from Norwegian fishermen not for the length of its body, but because it was caught in schools of herring, and because it had a “crown” on its head, consisting of the elongated first rays of the dorsal fin.
1. Whale shark - 20 m
Here is the answer to two questions at once: what is the largest fish and what is the largest shark in the world? The whale shark weighs up to 21.5 tons and is the largest living fish species.
The whale shark is found in the open waters of warm tropical seas. These fish can live up to 70 years. Despite its size, this creature rarely poses a threat to humans and feeds mainly on plankton. The whale shark species is listed as endangered by the IUCN.
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