Arapaima caught in Sarawak river!!!

[kuching]

The day after I came back from Kalimantan, I was shocked to read this news from the local Chinese newspaper....a guy caught a giant arapaima (Arapaima gigas) in Sungai Sarawak !!! The weight is 60 kg .Oh no....another introduced species from South American.

The paper cutting:

[Cacatuoides]

Oh my god.....that makes people think twice about jumping into the waters of Sarawak!! I'm sure its not a common sight of Arapaima there right?

[skysky]

the head is bigger then a person head ...a bite from it...woooooooooo...maybe is capable of swallowing a kid ?? scary...

[Jungle-mania]

Seen larger ones in Thailand, they have been known to jump and take swipes at flying ducks.

[hii]

You wont be suprise Sarawak river famous with crocodile too..

Poor fish, must be the owner don't want to keep anymore after they grow too big than damn to the river. This is not the biggest, few year (around 7-10 yrs??) back I read the newspaper think Penang has another owner keep this fish until it reach the length of 11ft...that's about 2 adult height.

[ahaetulla]

Yes, the consequences of not thinking carefully and/or doing research before buying monster fish! It's a big problem in the UK and US as public aquariums are overwhelmed with big fish (ie. pacus) that have outgrown their tanks and need new homes. Ultimately, the fish suffer. If they are introduced to a non-native habitat, the ecosystem there suffers too.

[benny]

Goodness!!

I suppose it difficult for hobbyists in Sarawak to "give away" their fishes to friends or even back to the shop. The aquarium I went to with Michael Lo doesn't exactly have the capacity to keep them either. No other options really.

Cheers,

[ahkarboy]

That fish doesn't attack people right? Right??!!

[bossteck]

Impressive... does anyone know which LFS sells it?

Kidding!!

Some plants and fishes are best left alone in the care of mother nature.