Huge Cat.

**Flounder** · 09-09-2006, 10:47 AM

Hey there. Apparently this monster was caught in South Africa a few years ago, I just rediscovered this pic when going through old e-mail.

Caught in SA or not, it remains an amazing fish!

Enoy!

**ZOO YORK 207** · 09-09-2006, 10:55 AM

nice cat very big!

**stotty** · 09-09-2006, 11:03 AM

I have seen that one a few times before. They grow to over 600lb in Russia and are sometimes pulled up by trawlers. The World record rod caught (last time I looked) was 202lb - caught by Kevin Maddocks (he is a famous carp angler here in the UK. Stop the press new world record 224lb 10oz

have a look at

http://www.wwwserv.co.uk/ccg/gallerypicsspain.htm

**Flounder** · 09-09-2006, 11:11 AM

I am not too sure if it is local either, it does not look like a member of the genus Clarias, of which I have personally seen a few almost this size, nor does it look like what is known as a Vundu, which is supposed to grow bigger, Pretoria Zoo has one that is almost five feet in one of their aquariums...

Here is a pic of a Vundu, hard to tell though with half the fish in the water...

**stotty** · 09-09-2006, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by Flounder;503241;

I am not too sure if it is local either, it does not look like a member of the genus Clarias, of which I have personally seen a few almost this size, nor does it look like what is known as a Vundu, which is supposed to grow bigger, Pretoria Zoo has one that is almost five feet in one of their aquariums...

Here is a pic of a Vundu, hard to tell though with half the fish in the water...

You are right its very difficult to tell in the water Vundu tend to have more barbells than The wels or European catfish or as it is known Silurus glanis. But its still a big fish

i would say that one is also a wels

**Acheloos** · 01-21-2013, 3:53 AM

The fish on the first photo is a Wels catfish, which was caught at the Po-Delta, Italy. This particular photo became very popular in the internet, with a lot of hoaxed background stories. The third photo is a wels as well, not a vundu-catfish, which have a different head shape, other barbels and other skin. And btw, despite some old big-fish-stories, wels catfish don´t grow to 600 pounds at all. The very largest ones on record were around 2,8 m and weighed around 150 kg.