Giant Man-Eating Catfish Caught in China?
September 10th, 2007 by admin
These images, reported to be gigantic catfish that was caught in a lake in Southern China, have been swirling around the Chinese internet for the last couple months. Those spreading the image claim that the 3-meter long fish may have eaten several swimmers who had disappeared in recent years. It sounds outlandish, but why not examine the pictures before deciding if it’s a fake? [Looks a hell of a lot like a whale shark to me. What do you think?]
WARNING: If seeing a fish cut open is offensive to you, don’t scroll down to the bottom of this post!
Is this a giant catfish?
September 10th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
It’s a shark, not a catfish.
September 10th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Google the words “whale shark”
September 10th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
don’t eat humans though, they are filter feeders,
September 11th, 2007 at 3:26 am
dorks, there’s no whiskers. it’s no catfish. the end. too bad, it woulda been awesome.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:07 am
That’s a Whale Shark, not a catfish. They taste like beef jerky though..
September 11th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
THATS NOT A CATFISH YOU IDIOT ITS A YOUNG WHALE SHARK
September 11th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
thats definetely a young whale shark. arent they supposed to be a protected species?
September 11th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
This makes me so sad. Whale sharks are such beautiful, gentle creatures, and those people had no reason to kill it. Maybe they should do research before they jump to the conclusion that it’s a giant, man-eating catfish.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
The government of China released an official announcment stating that it was an “unfortunate accident” and that it was quite “natural” for whale sharks to want to be dragged and gutted.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
“dorks, there’s no whiskers. it’s no catfish.”
Yes all species of catfish have whiskers, or rather all fish that have whiskers must be catfish also all cats have tails and all monkey’s live in trees.
I don’t think it’s a catfish either, but your reasoning that no whiskers = no catfish is tenuous at best.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
cool its not as bas dissecting a rat
September 11th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
cool its not as bas dissecting a rat.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Agreed…. it’s a whale shark.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Jasmine. I hope mike vick killed your dog. Animals are animals and they are to be killed an eaten. Its terribly sad that society has put into your head that we should just sit back and admire anything moving. And it does somewhat resemble a catfish so given the opportunity, I am sure you would catch it if you were trying to make a living as a poor fisherman.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
i thought whale sharks are salt water? i didnt know they lived in fresh water lakes.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
They found it in a lake. Sharks need salt-water. Therefore it can’t be a shark. And also Catfish can live with out wiskers.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Whale Shark.. just more typically chinese trying for another world record crap.. no Marine Biologist would fall for that crap.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Whale shark in fresh water? The story says “lake”, not sea.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
If this is the same fish thats been eating the divers, its not a whale shark. Whale Sharks can’t eat anything larger than a quarter. They can only muscle down a few tiny fish.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Look at the number of gill slits=shark.
September 11th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Well, they did find it in a lake - so being in freshwater too long would have killed it anyways (if it really is a whale shark).
Here’s a link to why sharks need salty water
http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/p_sharks_in_fresh.htm
Also the amount of plankton in a lake probably isn’t enough to sustain a filter feeder.
I wonder what the meat tastes like? It looks like it would tasty
September 11th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
So what are they doing? Filleting it for the neighborhood cookout?
September 11th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
In the Monty Python stylee…..
‘E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This whale shark is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushing up the daisies! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘E’s kicked the
bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-WHALE SHARK!!
September 12th, 2007 at 12:05 am
The arguments against that this is a Whale Shark because it was found in fresh water are irrelevant, you know why?
BECAUSE IT’S A WHALE SHARK!
It may have been interesting to find out how it had been surviving, (although it looks very sick,) but of course the Chinese just wanted to eat it. C’est la vie.
September 12th, 2007 at 7:31 am
100% sure that it’s a whale shark. in Latin: ‘Rhincodon typus’ or ‘Maximus typus’. I’m sure because as a hobby I studied sharks for almost 4 years. Though this type of sharks don’t eat meat. I heard once that they found a pair of boots in the stomach of a whale shark, but I guess that that could be a mistake. Look at documentaries where divers swim together with a gigantic whale shark while they hold them on the back… No man-eaters.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:13 am
IT IS A WHALE>>> not a catfish..
September 12th, 2007 at 11:26 am
whale shark definitely - and even if it was a catfish - catfish are also bottom feeders
September 12th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I am angry at the world and I think everyone is dumb because they have opinions!
September 12th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Since the article says it was found in a lake, it must be so!! Like the article says it was a catfish, so it must be so!! I’m from the internets so I must always be reliable and honest? I’m a 13 year old boy. any 13 year old girls wanna come over and drink lemonade? buwhahahaha
September 12th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
looks like sushi…
September 13th, 2007 at 6:40 am
This is definatly a whale shark. Those of you who say “it was caught in a lake, so it must be a catfish” should also consider that the story at the top is totally bogus!! Given the fact that it is a whale shark means that they didnt catch it in a lake! Also someone said that it looked sick anyways…..it’s dead you moron!!!!!!! It should look sick!!!
Idiots.
September 13th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Well goly gee…it was on the internet, so it must be true!
September 14th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
I’d like to go fishing with them. By the way what did they use for bait?
September 18th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
[…] Giant Man-Eating Catfish Caught in China? September 10th, 2007 by admin […]
September 19th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
can we say “adaptation”? bull sharks are known to survive in fresh water. if a big plankton eating fish is hungry enough, it’s going to eat whatever it can. whale sharks are known to eat small fish and squid also. doubt if it ate people, small dogs maybe. could have scared them to death though.
September 20th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
One of the most vicious sharks in the water can survive in fresh water:
“More alarmingly, bull sharks can’t be counted on to keep to the ocean. They are the only shark, and one of the few creatures of any kind, that can live in either salt or fresh water.”
http://slate.com/id/112116/
“Nicaragua was thought to have a unique species of freshwater shark until it was discovered that the beasts were bull sharks swimming upstream from the Caribbean, braving the rapids on the San Juan river like salmon coming home to spawn.”
September 23rd, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Dont be ridiculous, saying a fish which evolved to and is physiologically adapted to eating plankton only would alter its diet and suddenly act like a bass or whatnot if miraculously winding up in a Chinese river is like suggesting an anteater would graze on grass if it was deprived of ants.
September 23rd, 2007 at 6:52 pm
There are man eating catfish though it seems. Formerly such huge specimens were much more common and such giant fixtures of South American and Asian rivers presented a real risk to swimmers. Probably such outlandish specimens, which were indeed the dominant predators of the river systems, are severely depleted and much reduced in size like nearly all other fish resources these days.. and the stories maybe be less commonly believed now.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
There are not man-eating catfish, nor is this one. This is simply a set of photos being distributed witha false story.
First: this fish does not have the correct exterior structure to begin with for a catfish, particularly around the mouth.
Second: this fish has a set of gill slits, not one, which is also not a catfish trait.
Third: as you can see from the body being cut apart, there is no bone structure, which makes sense, because..
What you’re looking at in fact IS a young whale shark, and sharks do not have bones, sans the jaw, and in very specific species a couple other parts, but not whale sharks.
For the recet story that this MAY have been inspired by, please check this link: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/photogalleries/giantcatfish/images/primary/catfish1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/photogalleries/giantcatfish/&h=308&w=461&sz=35&tbnid=CFo3NySmthqu0M:&tbnh=86&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgiant%2Bcatfish%26um%3D1&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2
That is believed to be the largest fresh water fish (of any kind) ever caught. It also happens to be the largest variety of catfish in the world. If you really think that fish in the pictures is a giant catfish specie, please, do yourself a favor and compare the two visually.
Also, as there are several posts claiming this to be false: it is true that sharks can move up rivers. In fact, a fair number of sharks species can do so, though they do not tolerate the change in salinity well and it does make them ill in somes cases, it still happens, sometimes for reasons we don’t understand. This, if it was really caught in a river at all, is probably what happened here. Personally, I doubt that this was caught in a river just as much as I doubt that it is a catfish, which is say.. I’m positive that it was not caught in a river.
To reiterate, there are no man-eating catifish, anywhere, period. Catfish are not even predatory, nor or they at the top of any food chain whatsoever. The sole reason that catfish, even the non0giant species, grow large is that they do little more than relax with the current and scrounge the area around them for food their whole lives. Scrounge, not hunt. They eat garbage, anything, even aluminum.
Even the largest catfish on record could not possibly consume a human. It would be physically incapable. It has not ability to render a human incapable of resisting. It’s gullet is too small. It’s mouth is even too small really, unless it was a child. And finally, even if the impossible task of getting you inside it were possible (which it’s not) you could literally cut your way out with your bare hands by stretching yourself out inside. Note, one final time, that being in such a situation is impossible to begin with, as you would never, under any circumstances be food for a catfish, unless you were a rotting corpse falling to bits in a river because you made the yakuza angry and they dumped you in Thailand. (Also unlikely!)
September 25th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Also, Sam:
Do the world a favor. Never move again, not even to breathe. You are the trash in the world that lives to tear down people, and you should be exterminated.
September 30th, 2007 at 12:10 am
no, whale sharks are not protecte4d under CITES. its overpopulation has been a topic of international discussion.
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Eric Vaughn -
While I agree that the fish shown here is not a catfish, I have to say that you are wrong that there are no predatory species of catfish.
In fact, there are a number - channel cats come to mind. Both they and blue cats are known locally for eating small ducks and the like (basically anything that can fit in their mouths and can’t get away). It’s pretty impressive to watch, actually. They can be rather aggressive.
Not all catfish are bottom-feeding scavengers. Some actually go for live food.
October 15th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
BULL SHIT STORY
October 16th, 2007 at 6:05 am
there is no way in hell that a catfish can get that big.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:06 am
impossible
November 4th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I think we all agree that it is a young whale shark… but it would be awesome if it was a catfish
November 21st, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Hey Sam you back woods bred worthless piece of shit - I hope if you have children they get the same treatment you wished upon that poor girls dogs. Rot in hell
December 11th, 2007 at 7:45 am
For every one who believes that might believe that it is impossible for catfish to be anything other than bottom feeders. read this. look at the photos. http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/catchfish.asp. How did an inflated basketball get stuck on the bottom of a Lake?
Maybe, Not everyone know everything that they think they know. Oh, how silly of me i forgot this IS the internet!
December 23rd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
I fucked that thing!
December 27th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
That’s a friggin’ whale shark! Just cuz the paper says it was caught in a Lake doesn’t make it true.
January 9th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Well it just so happens that I have a pet Upside - Down Catfish and he/she is definantley spotted! So my guess is that this is accauly an undiscovered species of catfish, and not a whaleshark.
January 26th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
um im not sure but everybody i know think its a whale shark but lake, eats people, no whiskers? might be a new species maybe
February 8th, 2008 at 11:08 am
You’re an idiot!! You sloterd a pefectly awsom catfish!! YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!!!
February 9th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
You guys are all idiots. Do you believe every story with a picture?
February 21st, 2008 at 7:35 pm
ba ba booey!
ba ba booey!
April 4th, 2008 at 10:24 am
This a pic of a small whale shark…a very endangered species. Wanna see a big Mekong Cat?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/photogalleries/giantcatfish/photo4.html
April 4th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I must vigorously disagree with Eric, though. Catfish are highly predatory. I have caught several on artificials while fishing for bass, and I mean crank baits. Here at Lake Marion live Blue Back Herring is a favorite bait for huge Blue Cats. These Cats are apex predators in this system.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Its a damn whale shark dumbasses
May 21st, 2008 at 1:17 am
this is weird. but please dont leave rude comments about how the chinese want to win world records. some just dont know that its a whale shark, what’s so surprising about that. and even if they dont know its a whale shark, it doesnt give you the right to say that they’re giving it another name for world record. if you feel that way, then you must be that kind of person. i just hate how people these days are so ignorant. cant you just accept the fact that they have made a mistake in distinguishing animals?
May 21st, 2008 at 1:20 am
i dont think this is a catfish but at the same time i dont believe that it is a whale shark, considering that whale sharks are not meat eaters. how can there be human bones in a whale shark …? i’ll just go with the assumption that it is a catfish considering that they are highly predatory. hahaha
May 27th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Yes, it’s a whale shark. No bones shown, so how do we believe that allegation at all?
This is like so much internet garbage with a real photo and a story that has no basis in fact at all, or in any way.
No catfish, no body, no lake, no substantiation at all.
June 5th, 2008 at 8:13 am
If you want to know the validity of most stories, go to snopes.com and type in story headline. Checkerboard patterns plus gill slits tells you it’s a whale shark and they probably caught that shark off of a salt-water coast, not where they said.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I would like to disagree with the poster who said catfish are not predatory . That statement is false. The best bait for flat head catfish is Live bait.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
It took me about a tenth of a second to realize this was a whale shark. I’ve wanted to dive with these beautiful animals since I was a kid. They’re perfectly harmless to humans.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
this is a ginormous flathead catfish…if its a whale shark wheres the teeth…yall r dumbasses
September 30th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Hi Dick,
the story of the man-eating catfish looks impressive and so do the fotos. However, I refuse to believe it. I think I know a little bit about catfish. The fish on the foto looks to me like a whaleshark (which eats plankton or, to be more exact, krill and definitely is not carnivorous), the whiskers can be ropes fixed under it and so we have a good fotomontage. The largest catfish in the area described is the Mekong catfish (shark pangasius family), which is herbivorous i.e. lives on waterplants and has no teeth and no more whiskers when grown up. The largest European catfish, which sometimes may catch a duck, a nutria or even a little dog (stories about it attacking children were frequently told in former times but have never been confirmed) almost reaches that size (this species was bigger in the past) but looks completely different. Conclusion: there are a few things which don’t fit together. Still: a good and very impressive hoax! Very interesting. Where did you get it from?
take care
Fred
October 8th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Clearly a whale shark, i can’t believe i’m contributing to this idiotic conversation.
Sharks, cows, dogs, the chinese
appetite doesn’t discriminate. lol
November 10th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Dogs, whale sharks, panda bears, unhatched chicken embryos–is there anything the Chinese WON’T eat?