A fisherman in Cambodia has caught the world’s largest freshwater fish, a huge stingray, according to scientists.

According to a statement released on Monday by Wonders of the Mekong, a collaborative Cambodian-US research project, the stingray measured approximately four metres (13 feet) from snout to tail and weighed just less than 300kg (660lbs).

A 293-kg (646-lb) Mekong gigantic catfish discovered in Thailand in 2005 held the previous record for a freshwater species, according to the organisation.

Because of her bulbous shape, the stingray was named “Boramy,” which means “full moon” in Khmer. She was collected south of Stung Treng on the Mekong River in northeastern Cambodia. It took a dozen men to bring the fish ashore.

They notified a neighboring team of scientists from the Wonders of the Mekong project, which has promoted its conservation efforts in riverside communities.

The scientists arrived within hours of receiving the news, and they were astounded by what they found.

“When you see a fish this size, especially in freshwater, it is hard to comprehend, so I think all of our team was stunned,” Wonders of the Mekong leader Zeb Hogan said in an online interview from the University of Nevada in Reno.

Freshwater fish, as opposed to enormous marine species like bluefin tuna and marlin, or fish that migrate between fresh and saltwater like beluga sturgeon, spend their whole lives in freshwater.

The finding of the stingray was about more than just breaking a record.

“The fact that the fish can still get this big is a hopeful sign for the Mekong River,” Hogan added, stressing that the river is beset by environmental issues.

China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam are all connected by the Mekong River. Several kinds of big freshwater fish call it home, but environmental constraints are increasing. Scientists are concerned that a big dam-building initiative launched in recent years may be adversely harming spawning sites.

“Big fish globally are endangered. They’re high-value species. They take a long time to mature. So if they’re fished before they mature, they don’t have a chance to reproduce ,” Hogan explained. “A lot of these big fish are migratory, so they need large areas to survive. They’re impacted by things like habitat fragmentation from dams, obviously impacted by overfishing. So about 70 percent of giant freshwater fish globally are threatened with extinction, and all of the Mekong species .”

Before releasing the stingray, the team that rushed to the scene implanted a tagging device near its tail. Throughout the next year, the device will transmit tracking data, providing unprecedented insight into its behavior.

“The giant stingray is a very poorly understood fish. Its name, even its scientific name, has changed several times in the last 20 years ,” Hogan noted. “It’s found throughout Southeast Asia, but we have almost no information about it. We don’t know about its life history. We don’t know about its ecology, about its migration patterns .”

It’s the fourth female big stingray to be discovered in the same location in the last two months, according to researchers. They believe this may be a hotspot for the species’ reproduction.

In addition to the honor of having captured a record-breaking fish, the fisherman who caught Boramy was compensated at the going rate, which was approximately $600.

Image Credit: Al Jazeera

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