Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Three biologists reportedly captured and released it fish Freshwater Sturgeon Lake (Acipenser fulvescens) largest which is around 100 years old
This long-lived fish lives in the Detroit River and is nearly 2.1 meters long and weighs 109 kilograms.
“It’s possible that this fish was already living in the Detroit River around 1920,” explained the Alpena Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office on their official Facebook account as quoted CNN.
Although this fish is one of the largest freshwater fish ever caught in the United States, it turns out that there are a variety of river fish and other freshwater fish that are much larger in size in many parts of the world.
Launch Live Science, the largest freshwater fish on the planet is the beluga sturgeon (Huso huso). The fish lives between Europe and Asia, the Black, Azov and Caspian seas.
Beluga sturgeon can reach a maximum length of over 8 m, or about four times longer than a sleeping mattress. In fact, the fish can weigh up to 2.2 tons according to the Pan-European Action Plan for Sturgeons.
When they grow up, beluga sturgeons are at the top of the food chain, eating fish such as cockroaches and goldfish, water birds, and even seals according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries policy analyst Phaedra Doukakis said beluga sturgeon can live more than 100 years like lake sturgeon.
“If you live long, you have plenty of time to eat,” says Doukakis.
Sturgeons have existed for more than 250 million years and even coexisted with dinosaurs. The beluga sturgeon is the largest of the 27 species of sturgeon and paddlefish alive today.
Despite its long life, it is difficult to explain exactly why the beluga sturgeon grows so large. Larger sturgeons may have greater reproductive success, perhaps because females can lay more eggs than smaller females.
Professor of ecology at the University of Padova, Leonardo Congiu said their large size could also help them catch prey and survive predatory interactions.
However, he said today’s beluga sturgeon may not be able to reach a length of up to 7 m.
“I don’t think there are belugas that big anymore. This species is under a lot of pressure because of hunting,” Congiu said.
Launch IUCN, the beluga sturgeon is listed as critically endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species, the category for species most at risk of extinction.
Adult beluga sturgeon females are prized for their fish eggs, which are sold as caviar and fetch over US$8,000 per kg or Rp. 114 million (exchange rate of Rp. 14,268).
(jps / eks)
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