Most online references including fishbase Suggest that 10” is exceptional in the aquarium for B. Altus.
I would be interested to see any evidence of B.Altus bigger than this, especially anything near adult schwananfeldii size or weight, for wild or otherwise.
Yea.. that's poorly gathered information. These fish are native in SEA, which where I'm from, but in my country they're invasive. Back in the day when freshwater fish aren't a big business in food industry, fish are plentiful & plenty of big sizes. I remember seeing a Tinfoil on the weight scale weigh 3kg. Massive fish.
I have no idea why people believe everything on Fishbase, most of it are not updated or limited sources.
Here's a few wild ones I got measure more than 12"
Even my shortbodies around 9-12"
These are sc from a youtube video of an Indonesian fishkeeper, 7 years old altus. The fish weigh at least 1.8kg & above. The photo he picked up the first left fish, the smaller ones.