Biggest Fish In The World

You're wondering what's the biggest fish in the world, right? You may be asking about the biggest fish ever caught or the largest species of fish in either freshwater or saltwater. Let's take a look at some of the biggest fish in the world. 

The biggest species of fish in the ocean is the whale shark. Whale sharks can grow as long as 50 feet. This is mere speculation because the largest whale shark ever recorded was 41.5 feet long. The biggest whale shark ever caught was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea at the time. It was 21 feet long.

Whale sharks hang out in warm tropical waters. They are one of three species of filter feeding sharks, so their diets consist mainly of plankton. When plankton is running low, whale sharks feed on fish. Another filter feeding shark happens to be the second largest fish in the world: the basking shark. 

The biggest freshwater fish in the world is the Mekong giant catfish. This catfish can be as long as ten feet and weigh as much as 650 pounds. These endangered catfish live mainly in the Vietnam and Thailand region. The numbers of adult Mekong giant catfish may be as few as a couple hundred according to some experts. International efforts are mobilizing resources to preserve the species from habitat destruction, overfishing and extinction. 

There are many notable catches that don't involve either of these two species. A 51-inch Chinook salmon that was found by biologists in a place called Battle Creek. Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean was where one person caught an 85-pound barracuda in 1992. These may not be the biggest fish in the world, but they're worth noting.