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North American and European river systems receive far more scientific attention. “So it’s a very unique place and very understudied,” he said. The area is also home to freshwater dolphins, giant soft-shell turtles, giant catfish and giant barb, which is in the carp family. With so many giant stingrays caught in recent months and all of them female, Hogan believes this stretch of the river and the deep pools it contains are a critical breeding ground for the species. In the months ahead, they plan to tag hundreds of additional fishes.
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“This is the first fish that we’ve tagged since having the array deployed,” said Hogan, who is also a research associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. In another first, Hogan’s team was able to fit the stingray with an acoustic tag to track the animal for up to one year with an array of 36 underwater receivers that were also recently installed in a stretch of the river. (Image credit: Zeb Hogan, UNR Global Water Center via The New York Times) In the Mekong River in Cambodia, fishers and researchers found a 13-foot-long, 661-pound stingray - a win for conservation efforts in the area. “This is a heavily populated region, and the river faces a ton of challenges, including lots of fishing.” In an undated image provided by Zeb Hogan, UNR Global Water Center, A giant catfish caught on the Tonl Sap River in Cambodia. “The fact that the world’s largest freshwater fish was caught in the Mekong is remarkable,” Hogan said. Two other enormous rays have also been caught this year. The discovery comes less than a month after another giant stingray - that one weighing 400 pounds - was caught and released nearby. Using a tarp, they hoisted the stingray out of the water and onto the scales to verify its weight. Team members rushed to the small river island, called Koh Preah, and lined up three industrial scales. Agency for International Development, that they had caught a stingray larger than anyone had ever seen.
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More often, they wind up in the market as a source of cheap protein.įishers in Cambodia first alerted Hogan and his team at Wonders of the Mekong Project, which works to protect the Southeast Asian river’s aquatic diversity and is sponsored by the U.S. While this species of giant stingray has an extremely dangerous venomous barb that can reach nearly 1 foot in length, they are not usually a threat to humans. Also Read | Space news weekly recap: Swimming robots in space, China maps Mars and much more