The goliath tigerfish is not a creature you’d want to go for a swim within a river or anywhere for that matter. It’s a very large African predatory freshwater fish that looks like it’s straight up out of a science fiction movie.
“It’s related to piranhas — it’s a giant piranha” Earth Pictures shared on Facebook.
They are a species of piranha and are only found in the Congo River Basin. Its actual science name is the Hydrocynus goliath, but also goes by congo tigerfish, giant tigerfish, or mbenga (which means “the dangerous fish”). They have very large teeth that grow up to one inch long and fit into special grooves along their mouths.
A real river monster. “This fish [Congo Tiger Fish] is only found in the central part of the Congo river system, which…
Posted by Earth Pictures on Monday, November 9, 2020
The Goliath Tigerfish can grow up to 4.9ft long and weigh up to 110 pounds.Â
“They can grow to the size of a large person. The teeth on this one are an inch long, which is about the same size as the teeth on a 1,000-pound great white shark,” Earth Pictures added.
When the fish hunts it likes to hang out downstream of an obstruction in the rapids and ambush their prey. They have great sight and when they detect prey they accelerate and chase it down. The only predator of the goliath tigerfish is the Nile crocodile.
Jeremy Wade from the show River Monsters caught a goliath tigerfish in 2019 and a video of the encounter was shared on YouTube. Take a look at that video below.