Giant barb

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The giant barb, also called the Siamese giant carp, is the largest freshwater carp in the world. It lives in Southeast Asia, in the Mae Klong, Mekong, and Chao Phraya river basins. It is a migratory fish, moving to different areas for feeding and breeding. Its diet is mainly algae, phytoplankton, and fruits from flooded forests; it rarely eats other animals. It has a very large head and no barbels on its mouth. It is one of the biggest fish in the world, with reports of up to 3 meters in length and up to 300 kg in weight, but today the usual maximum is around 1.8 meters and 100–150 kg. It is a tetraploid species, meaning it has four copies of each chromosome.

Conservation status and threats: The giant barb has declined sharply due to habitat loss and overfishing. It is now listed as Critically Endangered. In Cambodia, catches dropped from about 200 tonnes in 1964 to only a few dozen by 1980 and 2000, and it has disappeared from the Chao Phraya River.

Conservation and farming efforts: In 2005, Cambodia named the giant barb the national fish to raise awareness. In Vietnam, breeding started in 2005, and about 50,000 juveniles were released into the Dong Thap area in 2010, though only a few survived to reach 1 kg. Breeding continued in Vietnam, and large-scale farming has grown in the region. Two southern Vietnam centers supply about 1 million breeder giant barbs to farmers each year. In river cages, the fish can grow 7–9 kg per year; in ponds with natural algae, they gain 2–5 kg per year. Most are harvested after about three years at 6–10 kg, though some are kept longer and can reach 50 kg.