PlanetCatfish.com

Recently came across a head of a large Pangasiid in a market in Nakhon Nayok-Thailand.Lacking visible barbels I think it may be Pangasianodon gigas. The fish was apparently 50 kilos when it came in and was called ''Pla beuk''. Didn't quite understand if the fish was caught from the wild or farm raised(unlikely imo). Also any information on the uses for the CB fish (Sport fishing,conservation etc.) would be useful thanks. Only the head remained when I was there so here are some pics. (A bit graphic though).

2 More pics.

Yup, that is P. gigas, and pla beuk is the Thai name for this species.

This species is being artificially bred. Mature adults are stripped of eggs and sperm, which are then mixed together and the fertilized eggs allowed to grow out (typically in reservoirs).

Glad to hear they're trying to raise them for market.

Thanks for the confirmation and info HH. So is it certain this particular specimen is captive bred? It seems unlikely it was caught from the wild given thier current plight.

some TV shows and web pages say it is nearly impossible to catch one in the wild, or may be they meant of any appreciable size

is that so?

No idea. I don't have video images of what I'm about to describe. But when I was in Bangkok a couple of years ago we went on a boat trip on the river. At some point near a temple we were given whole 1 kilo breads to feed the fish. Only answer I got when asked about the species was "catfish". Probably Pangasius I think. And they were big. Like over a meter big. A big chunck of the bread was devoured in mere seconds. There were litterally hundreds of fish around the boat. My father who was filming at the time might have good images of it. I'll look into it if I can find and upload a videoclip. Need to get to my parent's computer to look at the footage, and ask permission ofcourse.

That'd be nice, to say the least...

I, for one, am looking forward and wishing you come through with this.