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The giant barb, Siamese Giant carp, or simply Siamese carp ( Catlocarpio siamensis; , ; , , , or กะมัน, , ; Vietnamese: cá Hô) is the largest species of cyprinid in the world. These migratory fish are found only in the Mae Klong, Mekong, and Chao Phraya River basins in Indochina. Populations have declined drastically due to habitat loss and overfishing, and the giant barb is now considered critically endangered. Thursday, 8 August 2019
These are migratory fish, swimming to favorable areas for feeding and breeding in different parts of the year. These slow-moving fish subsist on algae, phytoplankton, and of inundated terrestrial plants, rarely (if ever) feeding on active . In the lower Mekong basin, young giant barbs have been reported as occurring primarily in October.
The giant barb ranks among the largest freshwater fish in the world, and is probably the largest fish in the family Cyprinidae.Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. It may reach (although this claimed maximum length needs confirmation) and weigh up to . Among the cyprinids, only the golden mahseer can reach a comparable length, but it is a relatively slender fish that weighs far less. Few large giant barbs are caught today. For example, no individual weighing more than has been caught in Cambodia since 1994. Today, the maximum length is about . The current record weight is 105 kg for an individual caught in Thailand in 2019 breaking the previous record by 5 kg.
This fish is a tetraploid, meaning it has four of each chromosome (as opposed to diploid, the normal number in animals).
In a 2005 royal decree, the Kingdom of Cambodia designated this fauna as the national fish to bring conservation awareness to this species.
In 2005, the giant barb was successfully domesticated and reproduced for the first time at the Vietnam National Breeding Center for Southern Freshwater Aquaculture.
In 2010, the Vietnam National Breeding Center released 50,000 young giant barbs into the Tien River in Dong Thap province Vietnam, but a later survey showed that only a few of them survived long enough to reach a weight of over one kilogram.
In 2012, it was successfully reproduced in the Breeding Center of An Giang Province of Vietnam.
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