🏆 The Largest Growing Stingray

🌊 Giant Freshwater Stingray (Urogymnus polylepis)

• 📏 Size:
  • Disc width → 2–2.2 m (7+ ft)
  • Total length (with tail) → up to 5 m (16 ft)
• ⚖️ Weight:
  • Typical → 400–600 lbs (180–270 kg)
  • Confirmed record catch (2022, Mekong River, Cambodia): 661 lbs (299 kg) 🏅
  • Reports suggest some may reach 800–1,200 lbs, though unverified.
• 🌍 Range: Southeast Asian rivers – Mekong, Chao Phraya, Mae Klong, Kapuas.
• 🦠 Diet: Fish, crustaceans, mollusks, insect larvae (sucks prey from riverbeds).
• 🔱 Tail: Long whip-like tail with one of the largest venomous spines of any stingray (up to 15 inches).
• ⚠️ Status: Endangered – threatened by overfishing, habitat loss, pollution, and river damming.

🐟 Other Giant Stingrays (for Comparison)

1. Short-Tail Stingray (Bathytoshia brevicaudata)

• 📏 Disc width: 7 ft (2.1 m)
• ⚖️ Weight: Up to 770 lbs (350 kg)
• 🌍 Location: Coastal waters of New Zealand & southern Australia
• 🐟 Largest marine stingray

2. Roughtail Stingray (Bathytoshia centroura)

• 📏 Disc width: 8.5 ft (2.6 m)
• ⚖️ Weight: ~600 lbs (270 kg)
• 🌍 Location: Western Atlantic (Canada → Argentina)
• 🦴 Notable for bony, spiny bumps on back

3. Whiprays (Himantura species)

• 📏 Disc width: 5–6.5 ft (1.5–2 m)
• ⚖️ Weight: 300–400 lbs
• 🌍 Found across the Indo-Pacific in coastal lagoons and estuaries

📊 Largest Stingray Comparison

✅ Bottom line: The Giant Freshwater Stingray holds the confirmed record at 661 lbs (299 kg), making it the largest stingray in the world and one of the heaviest freshwater fish ever documented.