is sometimes (often illegally) harvested commercially, its low price and slow growth and reproduction make it more valuable as a game fish. Folklore Mongolian legend tells of a giant taimen trapped in river ice. Starving herders were able to survive the winter by hacking off pieces of its flesh. In the spring, the ice melted and the giant taimen climbed onto the land, tracked down the herders, and ate them all. According to Chinese folklore, a type of giant taimen lives in Kanas Lake in China. Villagers near Kanasi claim to have found fish weighing over 4 tonnes. National Geographic called the taimen the "Mongolian Terror Trout". References Further reading Holcik, J., Hensel, K., Nieslanik, J., and L. Skacel. 1988. The Eurasion Huchen, Hucho hucho: largest salmon of the world. Dr. W. Junk Publishers (Kluwer), Dordrecht, Netherlands Taimen Research From Madison to Mongolia: The crusade for a giant fish taimen Fish described in 1773 Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas