A huge rare stingray was pulled from the Mekong River in Cambodia. The length of the creature was about four meters, and the weight was almost 200 kilograms. Unfortunately, this species has been little studied,,also because of the environmental problems of the Mekong River.
In Cambodia, a group of fishermen accidentally caught a giant stingray in the Mekong River. The 4-meter creature was hooked after eating another fish that had already taken the bait. The fishermen took several pictures and reported their find to scientists from the University of Nevada, USA, who are studying the inhabitants of the Mekong River.
Scientists have determined that the stingray belongs to the species Himantura polylepis. Representatives of the species live in the large rivers of Borneo and Indochina. This individual was caught in a remote area of the river, which also has pools up to 80 meters deep.And according to scientists, even larger stingrays can live there. According to their estimates, the weight of the creature was 180 kilograms.
Unfortunately, scientists have very little data on these stingrays mainly due to the fact that the underwater world of the Mekong is poorly understood. During the research, the experts also found many environmental problems.
At the bottom of the river, they found a lot of plastic garbage and «ghostly» nets abandoned by fishermen. Experts are trying to study the underwater environment of the river and to get more information about the rare stingrays.
