This 6-foot-long, 200-pound catfish is a goliath—and makes an epic migration 
By Stefan Lovgren US Source: nationalgeographic 3/21/2024
Stefan Lovgren
Credit: Professor Dr. Diego Zacardi and MSc. Fabíola Silva
When Ronaldo Barthem began studying the dorado, a type of goliath catfish, in an estuary of Brazil’s Amazon River several decades ago, he was puzzled by the absence of adult fish. Where, he wondered, did the golden-hued animal, which can grow up to six feet long, go to spawn?
 

Years of investigation revealed a stunning answer: The dorado swims through several countries, all the way to the foothills of the Andes on the opposite side of the continent, to complete its life cycle. The 7,000-mile roundtrip journey is by far the longest migration made by any freshwater fish in the world, according to recently published research in the journal Fish and Fisheries.

 
Continue...


214 215 216 217 of [217 - pages.]