Freshwater Monster Fish

Size: Weighing up to 8.2ft and over 220 pounds

Where it lives: Amazon River Basin in South America

Diet: Birds, Fish, and any other animal they can catch

The Arapaima is a very popular source of food for people in south america, and also very popular for sport fishing. Arapaima are hard to find at huge sizes nowadays, as they are coming close to being extinct in some parts of the Amazon River.

 Size: They can reach up to 10 feet and weigh 330 pounds, but they rarely do. Even larger wels have been reported, but the reports are not valid.

Where it lives: Slow moving rivers, and lakes in centeral, southern, eastern Europe.

Diet: They mainly eat worms, smaller fish and insects. Bigger ones can also eat mammals. Some have been reported to attack humans, but those reports have not been confirmed.

The wels can live up to 30 years, and have extremely good hearing. It is scale-less and can live in brackish water or freshwater.

Size: Can reach up to 16.5 feet and wigh over 1,200 pounds.

Where it lives: Commonly found in rivers in Thailand, it can also live in Malaysian and Indonesian rivers.

Diet: They usually eat clams and crabs, sometimes fish. They detect an animal's presence through an electric field.

The 15 inch barb on the tail can easily penetrate flesh and bone, as easy as an arrow can. They have been quite recently discovered, little about them is known. They have become a prized catch for fishermen, but are mainly endangered because of habitat loss.

 Size: Rare and large alligator gar can be 8 to 10 feet long and weighing around 200 to even 300 pounds.

Where it lives: North American Rivers, mostly in the south. Some have even been found in mexico.

Diet: The Alligator Gar ambushes prey. It eats mostly fish, and sometimes small mammals. Attacks on humans have been reported, but none have been confirmed.

The Alligator Gar has two rows of sharp teeth on its bill, enabling them to give a fierce bite and hold their prey. Alligator gar can live 75 years or longer.

Size: Can be up to 6 feet and weigh over 400 pounds.

Where it lives: Many African rivers, and some African river Basins

Diet: Fish and small shrimp

The Nile Perch is one on the world's 100 worst invasive species. They are a great importance as food fish. Many sport fishermen also seek to catch the Nile Perch.

Size: They have a mazimum lenght of 13 inches and can weight 8 pounds.

Where it lives: Mostly in the Amazon River Basin of Brazil, but they can be found in other rivers of South America.

Diet: They hunt in large shoals usually eating fish, crustaceans and worms. Sometimes they feed on dead, dying or injured animals in the water. They have also been known to attack smaller, healthy animals too.

The piranha has been featured in many movies, being portrayed as 'monster fish', but truly they are timid scavengers. The amazing teeh of the piranha can cut flesh from bone in seconds.

Althpugh they don't kill people, they have abilities to eat drowned human bodies of the Amazon river without hesitation.

 Size: Some say it could possibly reach 23 feet and 1,100 pounds, but due to their rarity- their maximum size is unknown.

Where it lives: China's Rivers, mostly the yangtze.

Diet: They eat mostly smaller fish, but their overall diet is unknown.

The paddle fish is on the critically endangered species list, and one has not been seen in the wild since 2003. Some people fear this fearsome fish is already extict. A dam had been created between where the fish normally lives, and its spawning grounds. More projects like this will threaten the species even more.

Size: Up to 10 feet long and weighing 650 pounds.

Where it lives: Asia's Mekong River

Diet: They are toothless, and live off the river's plants and algae.

This Giant fish is pretty much on the brink of extinction in some parts of the Mekong River. Many places have tried to ban Mekong fishing, but that is almost impossible due to the small villages.

Size: Today 'big ones' are caught at about 10 feet long weighing almost 600 pounds.

Where it lives: The caspian and black sea basins of Europe

Diet: Mostly Fish

Beluga caviar is considered a caviar delicascy worldwide, but it is rare to find and very expensive. These fish can live to even 100 years, and can continue growing throughout their life.

Size: 6 inches Long

Where it Lives: Amazon River

Diet: It is a parasite catfish living on other organisms blood, usually sticking on to other fishes' gills to feed.

The Candiru is possibly the most feared fish in the amazon. This fish has been proven to swim up the urine system, as this fish is attracted to urine and blood in the water... The only way for it to be removed is by surgery. It's a disgusting little fish- a true horror.

 Size: It can be as long as 5 feet and weigh as much as 154 pounds.

Where it lives: This fish is  native of the Congo River basin, the Lualaba River, Lake Upemba and Lake Tanganyika of Africa.

Diet: This fish has amazing teeth- built for chomping chunks out of crocodiles, fish, and pretty much anything it can find.

There have been reports of this fish biting humans, but those are not confirmed. This fish loves to wait and ambush in fast-moving turbulent waters, just waiting for easy-to-catch  less powerful fish to come by.