The Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas; , , ; /trəy riec/; ), is a large, threatened species of catfish (order Siluriformes) in the shark catfish family (Pangasiidae), native to the Mekong basin in Southeast Asia and adjacent China. It is considered critically endangered due to accelerating habitat loss. Description Grey to white in color and lacking stripes, the Mekong giant catfish is distinguished from other large catfish species in the river by the near-total lack of barbels and the absence of teeth. Young Mekong catfish do exhibit barbels and oral teeth, but these features diminish as they age and are absent by the time they grow to be 30-50cm in length. Mekong giant catfish are one of the largest species of freshwater fish. In 2005, the Mekong giant catfish attained the Guinness World Record''' for the world's largest freshwater fish. Attaining a length of up to , the Mekong giant catfish grows extremely quickly, reaching a mass of in only six years. It can reportedly weigh up to . The largest catch recorded in Thailand since record-keeping began in 1981 was a female measuring in length and weighing . This specimen, caught in 2005, was widely recognized as the largest entirely freshwater fish ever caught (the largest sturgeon species can far exceed this size, but they are anadromous), until surpassed in June of 2022 by a giant freshwater stingray specimen caught in Cambodia. Thai fisheries officials stripped the giant catfish, caught in 2005, of its eggs as part of a breeding program, intending then to release it, but the fish died in captivity and was sold as food to local villagers. Distribution and habitat The Mekong giant catfish is a threatened species in the Mekong, and conservationists have focused on it as a flagship species to promote conservation on the river.MGCCG, 2005 Although research projects are currently ongoing, relatively little is known about this species. Historically, the fish's natural range reached from the lower Mekong in Vietnam (above the tidally influenced brackish water of the river's delta) all the way to the northern reaches of the river in the Yunnan Province of China, spanning almost the entire length of the river. Due to threats, this species no longer inhabits the majority of its original habitat. It is now believed to only exist in small, isolated populations in the middle Mekong region. Fish congregate during the beginning of the rainy season