See which river fish takes first place. The largest freshwater fish or river monsters. The white shark is a huge fish

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The expanses of water of our planet hide huge monsters - fish, which frighten with their size. Some of them do not pose a danger to humans, and are the object of hunting, others are ferocious predators that can easily fend for themselves. The Big Rating portal wants to bring to your attention a list of the largest fish in the world. Giants are those individuals that reach a length of more than two meters, and their weight is more than one centner.

Giant grouper or guasa

Average length - more than 2.5 meters
The giant grouper or guasa settled on the last line of the rating. Its distribution area is tropical shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea, it is also sometimes found in the coastal waters of Brazil. Its length is two and a half meters, these are the average indicators for this species. The food for the grouper is sea turtle and octopus. Giant groupers are listed in the Red Book, and their capture is punishable by law. The listing of rare species in the book has borne fruit - the fish population is gradually increasing. This species is dangerous for humans, if someone swims into the territory of an individual, she will immediately protect her.

Psephur or Chinese Vislonos

Average length - 3 meters
This fish is found in the waters of the Yangtze River, it is the largest representative of the ray-finned class, which is found in fresh water. The length of the Chinese lizard is 3 meters, and its weight sometimes reaches three hundred kilograms. According to unconfirmed reports, 7-meter psefurs were also caught, but there is no evidence other than the words of the fishermen. The food for the Chinese weaselfish is crustaceans and small fish. It is an endangered species that has not been seen anywhere but the waters of the Yangtze River.

Average length - 2 meters
is the largest and most unusual bony fish, it is found in the warm waters of all the seas of the Earth. Its habitat is very wide - you can watch it in the waters of the Kuril Islands and with the same success you will see it off the coast of Iceland. This fish has a very strange body structure: it is compressed on the sides and looks similar to the halo of the disk of the moon. Instead of scales, fish have small bony tubercles. With a length of more than two meters, the fish can weigh about one and a half tons. According to official data, a three-meter specimen was seen, and there are also rumors that a four-meter long moonfish was seen in Sydney. This fish is not dangerous for humans, on the contrary, it is an object of hunting and fishing for fishermen.

Average length - 3 meters
This fish is found in fresh waters and today this species is on the verge of extinction. Its habitat is the Azov, Caspian and Black Seas. Fish has been an object of fishing for a long time, beluga caviar was one of the most expensive delicacies. In 1989, a fish 4.2 meters long was caught on the Volga River, its weight was one thousand kilograms. Now a stuffed animal of this fish is placed in the Astrakhan museum. Beluga can live up to a hundred years, this unique fish lays up to 50 thousand eggs during spawning. It feeds on small fish and is not dangerous to humans.

Average length - 4.5 meters
A giant freshwater stingray settled in sixth place in our ranking. The stingray is very popular, but much fewer people know about its huge freshwater brothers. It lives in the waters of the rivers of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The average copy has a length of 4.5 meters, its weight reaches 450 - 500 kilograms. Also, a giant freshwater stingray is found in the coastal waters of Australia, New Guinea and the island of Borneo. Stingrays are not dangerous to people, if they are handled with care. On the tail of a freshwater stingray, there are two huge spikes that perform different functions: one spike holds prey, and the second injects a poisonous substance. When catching stingrays, you need to be as careful as possible, they swing their tail so intensely that they can injure you.

Average length - 5 meters
The common catfish is one of the largest freshwater fish and is in fifth position on our list. The length of this giant sometimes reaches five meters, and it can weigh up to 500 kilograms. This fish is a predator that hunts at night and rests during the day. Its diet consists of fish, shellfish and crustaceans. The largest specimens attack birds and small animals. There are many legends associated with these fish, supposedly they can hunt people, but there is no official confirmation of this. But purely theoretically, a large catfish can drag a person who is entangled in the water through the water.

blue marlin

Average length - 5 meters
In appearance, this fish is very beautiful, even with its huge size. The huge length of 5 meters is truly discouraging, with one-fifth of the length falling on the spear. The difference in the size of females and males is clearly expressed, females are much larger. The habitat of this giant is the Atlantic Ocean. Marlins are the favorite fish of professional fishermen. If you managed to catch a blue marlin, consider yourself very lucky. Ernest Hemingway, in his legendary story "The Old Man and the Sea", described the confrontation between an old fisherman and a blue marlin.

Average length -11 meters
This is a very unusual-looking fish and its length is especially striking - 11 meters. Its habitat is the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. In appearance, the herring king looks like a huge sea snake. With a body thickness of 5 cm, this fish can reach up to 5.5 m in length. According to unconfirmed reports, specimens up to 17 meters were found. The belt-fish has the name oar king, not at all by chance. This fish is often seen swimming in a school of herring, and the elongated rays of the dorsal fin look like a kind of "crown".

Average length - 6 meters
The largest and most dangerous marine predator is the white shark. The average size of this cartilaginous fish is 4.6 meters, but it is documented that individuals were caught that exceeded 6 meters in length. The weight of a great white shark can reach several thousand kilograms. This fish poses a great danger to humans. She can hunt in coastal waters and is quite capable of attacking a person. This is due to the fact that this fish has very poor eyesight, and it can confuse a person with a huge turtle, or something that can threaten. Cases have been recorded when a white shark attacked fishermen's boats. Its diet includes large fish, dolphins, pinnipeds, sea turtles and birds. This is an endangered species, the white shark population is 3.5 thousand individuals.

Average length - 10 meters
On the first place of our list, without a doubt, is the whale shark - the largest fish in the world. The average individual reaches 10 meters in length, but specimens of 12 meters have also been recorded. Science does not deny the existence of larger whale sharks, which reach 19-20 meters in length. For humans, this fish is not dangerous, even with such monstrous sizes, since the main diet of its diet is plankton. This is one of the calmest fish - scuba divers can touch it without any fear, you can even ride on its back.

Thousands and tens of thousands of species of fish live in the seas and oceans, in the rivers and lakes of the Earth. Many of them amaze the human imagination with their unusual abilities or fantastic appearance.

Among the fish there are real champions in size; we included them in our top 10 largest fish in the world. Of course, our top did not include whales, because a whale is not a fish, but a mammal. When compiling the rating, we decided to take into account both the length of the body of the fish and its mass.

Otherwise, this fish is called a belt-fish. It is found in the warm waters of all oceans except the Arctic. Such a funny name is explained by its appearance: a large fin resembling a crown grows on its head, and a giant is usually found in shoals of herring.

The body of the herring king resembles a ribbon. Its length is about three and a half meters (although there are individuals of five, six and even eleven meters), height - 25 cm, and thickness - 5 cm. The largest belt-fish is listed in the Guinness Book of Records, its length is 11 m, and its weight is 272 kg.

The meat is not usually eaten, although it is not poisonous.

9 Common catfish

One of the largest freshwater fish lives in all European water bodies of Russia, except for the Arctic Ocean. The body length of a catfish can reach 5 meters; the weight of such a fish will be at least 400 kg. It is a valuable commercial fish; fairy tales, proverbs and riddles are complex about catfish (for example, “There are no two catfish in one pool”).

This is a fat brown fish (sometimes also black, light yellow and even albino) with a wonderful mustache; catfish have no scales.

Catfish feeds not only on plankton and crustaceans, but also on live fish, molluscs, and can catch waterfowl or small domestic animals.

There are known cases of catfish attacks on humans.

8 Blue Atlantic Marlin



In accordance with their name, these beauties live in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Especially common in the tropics. The female marlin is a quarter larger than the male of the same species and reaches five meters in length; the heaviest fish caught had a mass of 818 kg.

Marlin meat is considered valuable because it is quite fatty, and is especially appreciated by fans of Japanese cuisine. Therefore, too many Marlins are caught for the preparation of gourmet dishes, and in our time, marlins are endangered.

Blue marlin has a blue or blue body with silvery sides, a kind of “spear” is located on the head, very long and strong (its length is up to 20% of the body). Despite the intimidating appearance, marlins are not very aggressive, however, few people have a desire to mess with this fish. Marlin's only enemies are large sharks. He himself hunts shellfish, squid, and mackerel.

Interestingly, the image of this fish adorns the coat of arms of the Bahamas.

7 Moonfish


Finding out which is the largest fish in the world, we learned about such an amazing creature as the moon fish. It belongs to the pufferfish. With a relatively short length of 3.3 m, it weighs more than two tons. Moon-fish prefers the warm waters of the oceans, feeds on jellyfish and algae.

Moon-fish swim poorly, because they do not have a swim bladder. To turn, they are forced to spit out a powerful jet of water from their mouths; the moon can make small turns with the help of fins; they don't have a tail.

And moon-fish can also “talk”: make strange sounds with their teeth. The fish's mouth ends in a beak.

The meat of the moon-fish cannot be eaten: although it is not poisonous, it tastes unpleasant. Despite their outlandish appearance, moonfish are rarely kept in aquariums: they sometimes break when they hit glass.

6 Huge Tiger Shark

Tiger sharks are often referred to as leopard sharks because their exquisite coloring is reminiscent of both big cats. These dangerous predators live in tropical or subtropical waters; especially a lot of them in the Pacific Ocean.

Interestingly, these fish are viviparous, sometimes they bring eighty small sharks at once.

Reaching five and a half meters in length, tiger sharks are dangerous even for humans, although the basis of their diet is fish, sea snakes, cephalopods, turtles - yes, everything that gets into the sea!

These predators have a huge mouth, and each tooth is equipped with a serrated blade that can cut the tortoise shell. Females are larger than males and can reach a weight of one and a half tons with a length of more than five meters. There is evidence that there are tiger sharks 9 m in length, but they are not confirmed.

Dangerous predators often attack people. Fortunately, in most cases, the victims manage to survive. Especially a lot of attacks in Hawaii.

However, the sharks themselves suffer a lot from humans. Tiger sharks are caught for their meat, as well as skins and fins; sometimes they are kept in aquariums, but in captivity sharks do not live very long.

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5 Great White Shark Is A Huge Fish


This one of the largest sharks is often called the man-eating shark. It is found in all the oceans of the earth, except for the Arctic. The largest white shark caught was over 6 meters long and weighed about two tons. However, they assure that a shark more than seven meters long was caught off the coast of Australia.

Naturally, they are predators. Mostly white sharks eat marine mammals, but will not refuse other food. Unlike other sharks, whites usually hunt during the day.

The color of the shark is white only in the belly area, and its back and sides are gray. Three rows of serrated teeth make it easy to tear off a piece from any prey. Oddly enough, the bite force of this hunter is small and almost three times less than that of the Nile crocodile.

This predator is considered the most dangerous for people: in twenty years, almost 140 cases of fish attacks on humans have been recorded; 29 people died. However, people are not the favorite prey of sharks.

4 Freshwater Beluga


Beluga is the largest freshwater fish. It belongs to the sturgeon family and is listed in the Red Book. She lives in rivers and the Caspian, Black and Azov seas (depending on the season and life cycle).

Its length is usually more than 4 m, and its weight is about one and a half tons, although a beluga of nine meters in length and weighing 2 tons is described.

This fish is a predator; feeds on mollusks and small fish.

At the moment, there are not so many individuals of this species left. Of course, this is due to the fact that beluga often interbreed with closely related sturgeon (sterlet, etc.). But the main danger is man. Due to the most tender meat and delicious caviar, beluga often become the prey of poachers. A kilo of beluga caviar cost seven thousand euros on the black market ten years ago.

3 Manta rays are the largest of the rays


Manta rays are the largest of the rays. After all, the span of some of them can be 9 meters, as for the mass, then it is not small - 3 tons.

This creature is unique in that it is the only vertebrate that has three pairs of active limbs.

Mantas can be found in all warm oceans from temperate to tropical latitudes. These amazing fish swim, making peculiar flapping of their fins, as if with wings. Sometimes they jump out over the water and even twist somersaults. The reasons for such actions are unknown.


And again, a representative of the shark family appears in our rating. Otherwise they are called blue sharks. The recorded largest size of a female of this species is 9.8 m. But, according to unconfirmed reports, they can reach 15 m. The largest recorded weight is 4 tons

Despite their terrifying size, giant sharks are completely harmless to humans. It is not uncommon for divers to swim right next to it, and the only thing people should be afraid of is the sharp growths on the scales.

The giant shark feeds on plankton. She simply opens her mouth, and water passes through her, leaving up to 500 kg of food in her stomach.

1 Whale shark is the biggest fish




See photos of the largest fish in the world. This is a whale shark, the size of which can even reach twenty meters! Slow and peaceful, she feeds exclusively on plankton and does not pay any attention to people who can swim around her, touch and even ride on her back.

The largest fish in the world, the whale shark, is a very rare species, because for a long time they were commercial fish. And now they are hunted by poachers.

The whale shark has a peculiar flattened muzzle, and in a wide mouth there are up to fifteen thousand small one and a half centimeter teeth. Strangely, the liver of this fish is much smaller than that of other sharks (in a giant, for example, the liver is one-fifth of its total weight, which gives it buoyancy).

The whale shark prefers water with a temperature of 20 to 25 degrees and even cooler. Most of these fish are near Taiwan and off the eastern coast of Africa.

I present to your attention a list of the 10 largest freshwater fish in the world.

10. Carp

Carp is the common name for freshwater fish of the carp family. They are widely distributed in various water bodies around the world. They prefer quiet, stagnant or slow-flowing waters with a hard clay and slightly silty bottom. Able to grow up to 1.2 meters in length and weigh more than 100 kg. They feed on mollusks, crustaceans, worms and insect larvae. The largest carp caught by a British angler in 2013 weighed 45.59 kg.

9. Common taimen

Common taimen is a species of large freshwater fish, the largest representative of the salmon family. They live in the fast-flowing coldish rivers of Siberia and in the Amur River basin. Common taimen can grow up to 1.5–2 m long and weigh 60–80 kg. However, most of the mature fish caught averaged 70 to 120 cm in length and weighed 15 to 30 kg. The largest specimen caught, recorded by the International Game Fish Association, weighed 41.95 kg and was 156 cm long. The species is listed in the Red Book.

8. Common catfish

The common catfish is a large freshwater scaleless bottom fish that lives in deep sections of rivers, deep channels, lakes and reservoirs throughout Europe and Asia. The body length of catfish can reach 5 m, weight - 100 kg. There is a lot of information about giant catfish, reaching 250–300 kg, but there is no documentary evidence of the existence of such catfish. It is a typical predator and feeds on fish, large benthic invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, waterfowl, small mammals and even relatives. Like pike, catfish is an excellent orderly of reservoirs; it eats sick and weakened fish. Cases of attacks on people are also described.

7. Nile perch

The Nile perch is a species of large freshwater predatory fish that lives in the basins of the Congo, Nile, Senegal, Niger rivers, as well as in the lakes of Chad, Volta, Turkana and other reservoirs. Found in Lake Maryut in Egypt. Able to grow up to 2 meters in length, and weigh up to 200 kg. However, adults usually reach a length of 121-137 cm. The Nile perch is a predator that dominates in the waters of residence. It feeds mainly on fish, crustaceans and insects. Where food resources are limited, relatives can also be eaten.

6. Beluga

Beluga is a species of fish from the sturgeon family. It lives in the White, Caspian, Azov, Black, Adriatic seas, from where it enters the rivers for spawning. Their body length can reach 5 m, weight - 1000 kg (usually they catch individuals up to 2.5 m and weighing up to 200–300 kg). As an exception, according to unconfirmed reports, there were individuals 9 m long and weighing up to 2 tons, if this information is correct, then the beluga can be considered the largest freshwater fish in the world. It feeds mainly on fish, but does not neglect shellfish.

5. White sturgeon

The fifth place in the list of the largest freshwater fish on the planet is occupied by the White sturgeon - a species of fish of the sturgeon family, the largest freshwater fish in North America. It lives at the bottom of slow-moving rivers and bays along the western coast of North America. White sturgeon can grow up to 6.1 m long and weigh 816 kg. It feeds mainly on fish, crustaceans and molluscs.

4 Chinese paddlefish

The Chinese paddlefish or psephur is a freshwater fish that lives only in the Yangtze River, sometimes swims in large lakes and the Yellow Sea. Their body length can exceed 3 meters, weight 300 kilograms. There is information that in the 1950s, fishermen caught a paddlefish 7 meters long and weighing about 500 kg, although the reliability of this story is unconfirmed. Feeds on fish and crustaceans. Its meat and caviar are highly valued in China.

3. Giant freshwater stingray

The giant freshwater stingray (Himantura polylepis) is a species of freshwater stingray that lives in the tropical waters of several major rivers in Indochina and Kalimantan. Able to grow up to 1.9 m wide and weigh 600 kg. They feed mainly on crustaceans and mollusks, possibly earthworms. The giant freshwater stingray is not aggressive, although they must be handled with care as their venomous long spike can easily pierce human bone. This species is endangered.

2. Mississippi shell

The Mississippi shell or alligator pike is a species of large freshwater fish common in the valley of the lower Mississippi River and its tributaries in North and Central America. This is a very fast and strong, but shy fish. According to experts, the Mississippian shell can grow up to 3 m in length and weigh more than 130 kg. In 2011, the largest carapace caught was officially registered, its length was 2.572 m, weight 148 kg. It feeds mainly on fish, small mammals, birds, turtles, etc. There are known cases of attacks on children, fortunately, they never ended fatally. Included in the list of prehistoric fish that were considered extinct.

1. Giant shilbovy catfish

The giant shilb catfish is the largest endangered freshwater fish. It is found only in the lower reaches of the Mekong River, as well as in the Tonle Sap River and Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Fish of this species can grow up to 3 meters in length and weigh 150–200 kg. They are herbivorous - they feed mainly on algae and phytoplankton. The largest specimen caught in 2005 reached a length of 2.7 m and weighed 293 kg, it was he who was recognized as the largest freshwater fish caught by man.

The ocean isn't the only place to find giant fish that might make you want to send your rod on vacation for the long haul. Hippo fish can be found hiding in the murky waters of our freshwater rivers and lakes. While the typical freshwater fish are smaller than their counterparts in the salty waters of the oceans, some of them can grow to enormous sizes. Getting to know these freshwater giants can make you look at freshwater a little differently. This is the top 10 The largest freshwater fish.

No. 10. Siberian taimen


Also known as chum salmon, the Siberian taimen is a species of large fish that belongs to the salmon family. This fish is found in various colors depending on the geographical location, but, as a rule, it has an olive-green head, gradually turning into a reddish-brown hue on the tail. Some of their fins are dark red, and their belly is usually white, but can sometimes appear dark grey. Taimen is the largest salmon in the world. The weight of the fish caught varies between 15 and 30 kg depending on their age. The largest Siberian salmon reliably reported reached 104 kg. It was caught on the Kotui River in Russia.

No. 9. Carp


Carp are found throughout the world in many freshwater bodies of water. Carp can grow to gigantic sizes. It is one of the various freshwater fish species that belong to the cyprinid family, the largest group that originated in Europe and Asia. The carp-shaped katlya (also known as the Indian carp) is the largest and reaches a length of 182 centimeters. It is followed by the White Amur carp, which has a maximum length of 150 centimeters.

No. 8. Nile Perch


Nile perch - on the eighth line in the top 10 largest freshwater fish in the world, it is a type of freshwater fish that belongs to the perch family. Its homeland is the Nile, Congo, Senegal and Niger rivers (also other river basins that I have not mentioned). This perch is silver in color, but it has a unique blue hue. You will notice its distinct black eyes with bright yellow rings on the outer rim. The Nile perch is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, reaching in some cases over 1.8 meters in length. The largest of these fish weigh over 182 kg.

No. 7. Catfish


Catfish feed on the bottom. They are the best as far as the bottom of the lake is concerned. Some of the largest catfish reached a mass of over 227 kg. You may encounter catfish in freshwater environments, usually with running water and colorful rocky bottoms.

No. 6. Paddlefish


It was once believed that paddlefish with their muzzles pull out vegetation at the bottom of rivers and lakes. There was a time when paddlefish were widespread in the river systems of the United States. But due to increased exploitation of water resources, their population has declined significantly. One of the main reasons for the decline is the large number of dams we are building on our rivers. These dams block their migratory routes, which are very important for paddlefish during spawning and healthy growth.

No. 5. Bull shark


You can encounter bull sharks in warm oceans and coastal areas. They can also be found in freshwater streams if they are deep enough. Female bull sharks are larger than males. At birth, they can reach 3 meters in length. Adults average about 2.5 meters in length. largest recorded the weight of the bull shark was 312 kg. It is one of the largest freshwater fish species. The bull shark is said to be considered a super-aggressive species. They often hide in the shallow waters of beaches and exhibit aggressive behavior.

No. 4. White sturgeon


The White Sturgeon is a freshwater fish species that plays an important role in the social heritage and culture of British Columbia. It is the largest of the sturgeons in North America, and in addition, the largest of the freshwater fish species in North America. A recently caught white sturgeon in British Columbia was almost 4 meters long and weighed almost half a ton. The white sturgeon has an extremely long lifespan. Some of them live over 100 years. This means that they were alive even when British Columbia was not yet part of Canada. The white sturgeon is able to spawn many times throughout its life. Due to their long lifespan, white sturgeons grow slowly and are not able to breed until males are 14 years old and females 18.

No. 3. Alligator garfish


Alligator Sargan is a streamlined fish with a head that at first glance resembles an alligator. The alligator garfish is the largest fish of its kind. It can grow to over 3 meters in length and weigh more than 136 kg. Despite the aggressive appearance, there are no reports of attacks on humans yet.

No. 2. Giant freshwater stingray


This is one of the fish species that can scare you just at the mere mention of it. The giant freshwater stingray is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. weighing from 495 to 590 kg. Unfortunately, the number of these fish is rapidly declining due to overfishing and rapid habitat loss. They are in danger of extinction. In Thailand, the giant freshwater stingray is an endangered species. If you try to catch a giant freshwater stingray, it can sink the boat. They are known for burrowing into mud when caught in a net.

No. 1. Beluga


The largest freshwater fish in the world, beluga - this representative of the sturgeon family is the first number in the list of the largest freshwater fish. Despite the same names, freshwater beluga whales have nothing in common with beluga whales. Belugas can grow to monstrous sizes - in part because they can be up to 118 years old, during which time they never stop growing. The largest beluga reached 7.4 meters in length and weighed 1570 kg. The sad fact is that these large individuals are becoming rarer and rarer. This is due to the increase in the intensity of fishing. Beluga is a type of fish that produces black caviar, considered a delicacy throughout the world. Beluga caviar is scarce and expensive. Due to the fact that the existence of this fish is now in a critical state, beluga caviar is even more expensive than before.

For many people, fish is not only a favorite food, but also a desirable prey. Fishing enthusiasts remember with joy the quiet morning bites, and the adrenaline rush, when the float, twitching a little, suddenly abruptly goes under the water, trying to snatch the bait out of their hands.

Fishing is not only a test, but also an expectation of triumph. Every real fisherman wants to show off their prowess by catching fish of incredible size. And some succeed, because among the freshwater fish of Russia there are individuals that are simply incredible in size and weight.


This species can be found in almost any fresh water body of Russia. Also found in northern and central Europe. The largest bream in history was caught on the territory of modern Finland, in Lake Visijärvi, in 1912 and weighed 11.6 kg. In Russia, abnormally large individuals were recorded in 1951 on the Vyatka River and in 2003 on Lake Ladoga. The mass of the caught bream was almost 6 kg.

Average weight - 3-4 kilograms, length up to 40 cm. It is considered a valuable commercial fish. In the 30s of the 20th century, the catch of this species in our country reached 120 thousand tons per year.

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The largest representative of the species was caught in Siberia in 1967. Its weight was 30 kg, and its length was 120 cm. Other cases have also been registered. 1985, Lake Onega, burbot weighing 16 kg was mined. 1910, Lake Ladoga, fish weighing 10 kg was caught. Catching such large burbots is an incredible success, because they average weight 3-4 kg.

Burbot is a northern fish. He likes cold water, so he rarely appears in the south. It lives in Siberian rivers and in Lake Baikal. Also found in northern Europe: in Finland, the Baltic states, the Leningrad region.


Pike perch is a predator, feeds on small fish, leads a secretive lifestyle. In places of active hunting, especially during the feeding process, it is not difficult to catch him. Due to its voracity, it can be caught even by a novice fisherman. Pike perch is valued for healthy dietary meat containing a lot of protein.

This type of fish can be found not only in fresh lakes and rivers of Russia, but also in the seas: Black, Baltic, Azov, Caspian. Usually the weight of the caught zander is 8-10 kg.. However, a case of catching fish weighing 22 kg has been documented. They also say that the largest pike perch was caught in the last century on the Volga River, its weight was 40 kg.

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Lake salmon is not even a species or subspecies, but a morph of the Atlantic salmon. A morph is a type of animal that has stable differences within a species or population; this category includes melanists, albinos, local varieties, and so on. The main difference between lake salmon and Atlantic salmon is feeding in lakes, and not in salt water. Juveniles of such fish in the process of growing up do not go to the sea, they live in the lake, and then spawn in the rivers that flow into it. In Russia, such salmon lives in Ladoga and Onega lakes, Segozero and a number of other northern reservoirs. Fishing is possible only within the framework of Lake Onega, other populations are listed in the Red Book.

In size, lake salmon is inferior to sea salmon, the average weight is indicated within 3-4 kg. The maximum figure, officially noted, is 7 kg, but the fishermen say otherwise, saying that they caught fish weighing up to 10 kg or more. However, such a statement should be treated with caution, because the Baltic salmon, for example, also goes to spawn through Ladoga, Neva - rivers flowing into Lake Ladoga. And when switching to a freshwater regime, the fish changes color, representatives of the oceanic herd can be easily confused with the “indigenous” freshwater inhabitants of larger sizes. Such individuals can also get into Lake Onega, and a person may encounter migratory fish, considering it to be local freshwater.

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Valued for its tasty, fatty meat. Carp eat themselves by eating algae. He just swims with his mouth open and eats everything that comes in his way. If not for natural enemies: catfish, then carp, living on average for 10-15 years, could grow to incredible sizes. The largest carp was caught in 1937 in Belgium. A monster 3.5 m long and weighing 190 kg terrorized Lake Ostend for several years. In Russia, a record carp was caught on the Voronezh River, it weighed 68 kg. Officially - the weight of the carp reaches 14 kg. Carp is a common carp.


The pike predator is familiar to everyone since childhood. It is widespread throughout Russia, so it is often found as a character in folklore. Anglers also know many incredible stories about pike. It is believed that the largest pike was caught in the 15th century, in 1497. Her weight was 140 kg, and her body length was about 6 meters. It was possible to determine the age of the fish, as it was ringed. It was established that the mark corresponded to the era of the reign of Frederick II, the ruler of the Roman Empire. The pike was ringed around 1230 and released. It turns out that she lived for 270 years before being caught by a man again. Officially, it is believed that the weight of a pike reaches 16 kg.

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