August 11, 2007
Giant man-eating catfish found in Guangdong reservoir?
We found the following email in our mailbox the other day. Apparently it's been making the rounds on the Chinese-language internet:
花都芙蓉璋水库，每年都有好几个人莫明溺水死亡。到最近有个高官的子弟与朋友一起到水库游水溺死亡，才发现惊天秘密！
Each year, a few people will be drowned mysteriously in Huadu's Furong Reservoir. It was not until recently when the brother of a certain official went swimming in the reservoir with his friend and were drowned that the secret was unravelled!竟然是一条有三米多长，头有一米多宽的吃人唐蚤！宰割唐蚤后，惊人的发现：在其肚中竟然有人的骸骨！
It's a 3 metre long man-eating catfish whose head alone is 1 metre wide! After cutting up the catfish people were surprised to find the remains of a man inside!由于事件影响大，当地政府怕影响当地的旅游，下令封锁消息，但却有现场的人用手机偷拍的到捕获的吃人鱼！
Because this was a huge incident, and the local government was afraid of the impact on local tourism, they imposed an embargo on the news, but people came away with these pictures taken on their cell phones of the man-eating fish!现在水库已经严禁有人下水，为恐会有另一条同类的唐蚤鱼在水中！
Swimming in the reservoir is now forbidden because it is feared another similar man-eating catfish is still lurking in the waters.
Now we're not experts on aquatic life and can't confirm to you if that is really some mutant form of the clarius batrachus (walking catfish) as the email suggested (where are the whiskers?), but some netizens have already raised doubts saying this is a whale shark (鲸鲨) instead. Now you decide for yourself: Does it look more like the walking catfish or the whale shark? And if it is the whale shark, which is "vulnerable to extinction" according to Wikipedia, why did they kill it? Well, perhaps because they thought it killed a bunch of people. But how did they find it, and catch it, and why did they kill it and chop it up in such a public manner, we wonder? We bet scientists would have liked to see this alive first (we imagine saltwater whale sharks don't pop up in freshwater reservoirs too often ... nor, we guess, do 30cm catfish regularly turn into three-meter mutants).
But wait. The Huadu government has also made a statement to dissociate itself from the post, saying that the contents of the post do not match the photos. Also, no sighting of any large man-eating fish has been reported, and that no deaths have occurred in the reservoir between 25 July of last year and now.
As we have been accused of doing so in the past, we might choose to side with the government on this one. Seems very likely that these are pics of a random whale shark killing that a prankster decided to spread around masked as the Huadu Reservoir man-eating monster. It would seem the prank was a success.
But you never know ... especially in Chinese waters. Swim at your own risk.
More pictures after the jump. See for yourself the remains of a human body inside the monster!?! Or maybe not. (We are, if you haven't guessed, skeptical.)
Thanks to reader Jonas Chau for the tip! And yes, adding a question mark to the headline grants us "complete blogger immunity."
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it's a whale shark and it eats krill not people. 2 Seconds of google research would have helped you figure out this "mystery."
having a bad day, no. 1? i think there was plenty of appropriate skepticism littered throughout the post. did your two seconds of google research tell you where and when the photos were taken?
joe
It may be time for a Chinese "godzilla" movie, considering all of the mutations in this wonderful country.
nanheyangrouchuan
Okay, I would definitely say Whale Shark, and the "human remains" inside look like intestines or some other musculature.
That being said, I live in West Central Louisiana and in a man-made lake called the Toledo Bend Reservoir (along the Texas/Louisiana border in Sabine Parish.)
We have had NUMEROUS divers tell the tale of Catfish with maws large enough to swallow a man whole. Is there evidence of such? Not that I know of, but the stories are numerous enough to have reached "Urban Legend" status. Even if they are not that large, I believe there is a kernel of truth to the stories having seen some truly massive catfish pulled from the lake. Just my two cents.
Tommy
tommy@tommysdarkside.com
Doing some quick research:
http://www.hku.hk/ecology/porcupine/por33/33-vert2-kenny.htm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=443987&in_page_id=1811
Which pretty much confirms what I originally thought when I saw this: They're just slaughtering the whale shark to sell (I thought this mainly because of the way they sliced it up).
"...if it is the whale shark, which is "vulnerable to extinction" according to Wikipedia, why did they kill it? Well, perhaps because they thought it killed a bunch of people."
Sadly, China's track record with endangered species isn't as good as I would like it to be... guess they should work on the human rights first.
In either case, the story is complete bologna. Just another internet chain mail masterpiece
-Eds
sasquatch [dot] eds [at] gmail [dot] com
What is a whale shark doing all the way in Huadu? I used to live in Huadu 10 years ago - its a LONG way from the ocean. Heck, I've been to barbeques at Furong.
Weird.
Pretty cool. For all the bad press China gets for driving species to extinction, they should at least get some for creating new ones.
Woot.
I don't believe that, the fish haven't such sharp teeth that could eat people.
PSB plans to put GPS tracking chips in Shenzhen ID cards:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/business/worldbusiness/12security.html?ei=5065&en=2d7edb61ed14cb4d&ex=1187496000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
nanheyangrouchuan
The fact that anyone would consider this to be a fabrication shows just how ignorant the westerners and foreigners are about China. There are giant snakes all over the world that eat people all of the time. It is a scientific fact that hardly a day goes by in Africa without some villager disappearing in the mouth of giant snakes. So why you think that this fish can't eat anyone??? Maybe just because it is a Chinese fish and you can't even believe such a story that a fish in China could grow to be the biggest??? I think this fish is even big enough to eat most foreigners.
There In ancient times, there were dinosaurs that always ate and killed human beings and therefore there is no reason why there can't be a fish that is doing this to us now. There are records in Chinese language about this and that was before the foreign people practically learned to walk upright and every Chinese was rich and advanced when you were living in dirt holes and stealing from Chinese to try to have an easy life.
I know today our country has problems and maybe the pollution was the cause of this giant fish that killed so many people. But there are already too many people in China and there are too many Chinese people today, so maybe this kind of fish could be helpful to our country as we follow the Olympic dreams of harmonious development. Maybe there is a good part about this since if we have all of these giant fish, we can catch them and export them to the world and everyone can enjoy high-quality Chinese fish meats. But we won't let them eat people anymore, so no swimming will be allowed.
#10, I'll have whatever you've been smoking.
Don't catfish have whiskers?
1) Whale-sharks live in salt-water, not fresh-water. And they eat krill. Divers swim with them all the time.
2) The pictures do not show the supposed human remains.
3) If it were a whale-shark, you'd be able to easily see the gigantic tail (it'd be hard to hide).
4) If it were a whale-shark, its fins (especially its dorsal) would be much larger.
5) It's not a whale-shark because it just doesn't look like one.
6) Whale-sharks can't really eat humans. They don't have teeth. And if this were a whale-shark, it'd be a really weird and tiny one.
Whale-Shark Feeding
1) Salt water animals show up in fresh water lakes from time to time. Besides, the rest of the article is nonsense, so why assume that the location is correct?
2) Agree
3) The tail is flopped over onto the ground. You can see it in the first picture.
4+5) It looks like a whale shark to me. It has the same shape and the same coloration. Compare the first picture in the story to the first picture here:
Whale Shark
6) They don't eat people, but based on the picture you provided, the large ones wouldn't have much trouble accidentally swallowing a person.
This looks like a small whale shark to me.
The pictures are of a [url=http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/about/communications/backgrounders/images20030615/whale-shark-cc4-200306-480.jpg]whale shark[/url].
It doesn't matter that whale sharks don't eat people or can't swim in salt water because the entire article is BS.
@ 14, point 6): whale shark's esophagus isn't larger than a clinched fist, there's no way they could ingest anything bigger than that. Unless, of course, they chew it for a very long time... :P
1)Go to your local fishmonger
2)buy or just look at catfish meat
3)note color of said meat
Catfish are opportunistic bottom feeders that do not get enough Iron in their diet to give their muscle tissue that nice deep red seen in the picture their muscles are a creamy white. They also do not develop multi-layer musculature. Their bodies are divided into only a few main muscles; the primary two running from gills to tail(anyone whose ever had to skin one could tell you all this). Whatever it is it sure isn't a catfish.
One thing's fo sho:
THAT BITCH IS DEAD
uhh great arguments # 10, especially the one about how dinosaurs used to eat humans all the time, very scientific. except for the fact that dinosaurs and humans were never on the earth at the same time.
Number 10 had to have been the dumbest post I've ever read in my entire life..And that's no exaggeration...I once read a post saying how babies actually came from a cabbage patch..But this one ousted it in stupidity....
Even the people that wrote the article are saying that the pictures were probably nto even taken at the place stated....I could take a picture of a deer that I hunted and smeared blood on it's mouth then go on to say that we found it in the middle of africa feasting on a pack of lions....
It has nothing to do with hating the chinese...I especially like how they said the chinese were richer before Westerners and such...If that's the case...Why were they imported to build the railroads here?
Actually #20 it is true that the Chinese civilization was amazingly far ahead of every other culture for a long time. Then they didn't go exploring the world cuz they figured they had he perfect civilization and slowly fell behind. I'm not Chinese I live in the United States. I learned this in history class. They had fallen behind by the time the worker immigrations started taking place.
as for which fish it is it has fins that the cat fish doesn't. It lacks whiskers. and its the wrong color. For this to be a catfish it would have had to be reallly badly mutated. If this story is true I would never drink from that reservoir. Ever. I like having just 2 eyes -=)
that's a whale shark. gotta say I'm sad to see it getting butchered like that, their fun to swim with.
tho number 10s post cheered me right up. lol
its funny how defensive someone can get over a rather obvious prank but i would suggest knowing what your talking about first. XD
Yes its a whale shark, specifically a young male. Full, mature whale sharks are much bigger, with more pronounced fins.
It is a delicacy in China, Taiwan an most of south east Asia. It is very expensive meat, because of its soft white texture.
While being illegal in most places, where the pic was taken (most likely Taiwan - which has great access to the Pacific) they are allowed to hunt and sell whale shark meat and pieces, but is monitorted by the UNTO and CITES, to ensure they are not over-fished, and endanger the species.
While this prank is funny, more so the fact that people believe it and take a very hot-heated stance to defend it, it is just another e-hoax. Have a giggle then move on, eh?
this is obviously a whale shark. but what would would they be living on in freshwater? its said that whales throats are too small to fit a human. maybe it is a cat fish and the man they supposedly found was Jonah!
the man they found is jonah!
Seems like Asians will kill and eat anything these days....
guess the taste of cats and dogs gets kina boring at some point...time to switch to a more EXTINCT diet!!!
looks like their having sushi for dinner 2nite! XD if that thing IS a whale shark then how tha hell did it get into a reservoir????
there must be something else in that reservoir, whale sharks are one of the most kind and affectionate water creature there is, I in fact know a fellow that crossed paths with them while scuba diving.
they can be a little rough, due to their size, but extremely playful!
there must be something else in that reservoir, whale sharks are one of the most kind and affectionate water creature there is, I in fact know a fellow that crossed paths with them while scuba diving.
they can be a little rough, due to their size, but extremely playful!
As a SCUBA instructor and avid diver who has dived with whale sharks I can without a doubt identify this as a Whale Shark. Everyone who has eaten catfish knows that the meat is white.
There is also zero evidence where this massacre happened. If the contents of the picture are being doubted should not the location be in doubt also? I dont see any "Welcome to Huadu" signs.
The fact they butchered this harmless shark increases level of contempt I have for this culture. The dissection is clearly meant to divide the carcass for consumption and not for investigation.
It's clearly a whale shark:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=whale%20shark&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=com.google:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
I can't work out why you spend so long typing this blog post, when 10 seconds on google would have told you what these photographs actually showed. Wake up
It's pretty obvious by the way the whale shark is being sliced up in to steak-size portions what they intend to do with it. What doesn't end up on a plate, will probably be used for medicinal purposes (if you actually believe that it has any effect whatsoever, which, incidentally, i do not)
Andy
Andy,
It's fairly obvious Shanghaiist spent "so long" typing this post because they knew thousands upon thousands of people like you would visit the website to look at this story, thus upping their advertising revenue.
Wake up.
Sam
It's clearly a whale shark, but it must be young because they can get a lot bigger than that.
From Wun Hung Lo:
Me so horny.
Comment number 10 is rly funny. People werent around when dinosaurs were....some education hes got, either way, this is a phony thing
Whiskers aside (who knows they got torn/cut off for some weird reason), you can obviously tell its a whale shark from the second picture with the head. It doesn't have a fish's gills but shark gills!
The head looks nothing like what you'd expect on a catfish or any other fish because a fish head looks like a completely different segment of the fish due to the way its gills are constructed.
I'm a bit concerned that people cant even tell the difference between a fish and a shark...and that people are willing to believe ridiculous stories because of a few photos.
I swear to god, post #10 has got to be a joke. Honestly 'high quality chinese fish meat' being exported. Come on like their is anything of high quality coming out of China.
I am 100% POSITIVE that this is a whale shark. Go to the link and compare the two. It is NOT a catfish!!!
Bad China is now into killing whales as another delicacy, then Bad China will try to blame the Japanese for introducing it and polluting pure Chinese thinking.
Bad, whale slaughtering China.
nanheyangrouchuan
Yea this is most defiantly a whale shark. This is probably one of those fake emails or maybe someone didn't really know and jumped to conclusions.
Though I do know of a reported case of catfish being large enough to actually eat a man. This report came from my home town and 2 divers went to patch up the dam and they surfaced soon after claiming they saw giant catfish.
#39 whale sharks aren't really whales, they are just a very large fish.
ha.
this is a whole lot of bull crap.
what a lame excuse to kill an endangered species
who cares? seriously, all this drama for no reason? why bother...
i think its some sort of mutated thing...
Considering that the Chinese, Japanese and other oriental nations pretty much eat anything that moves (like dogs, cats, snakes, ostriches) I guess that this whale shark was targeted and other people tried to justify the act by saying it was killing people. Which makes me wonder why the peolple shredding it to pieces werent prosecuted, seeing as though it's illegal to kill an animal thats endangered. If they have been arrested in more recent times, then no worries. I respect other cultures and everything, but I think they should limit themselves as to what should be on the menu... I know that people wouldn't like it if others started killing Giant Panda's and eating them.
It may have been a whale shark due to it has no whiskers, it's spotted like a whale shark,its large mouth and it could have eaten someone by mistake, the bones were in there because didn't it eat a person a long time ago, it could have rotted until it was only bones??
The simplest way to tell a shark is by the gills. Much like a jeep they have slotted gills, and that is a shark not a catfish.
I am shocked to see sucj beautiful and peaceful whale shark in these conditions. It is well known what Chinese and other countries people do to whale sharks but unfortuntaley nobody cares much or say much.
I am disgusted, totally.
Funny how the World praises China Growth but avoid talking about hot issues, starting from Human Rights to Animal Rights.
Alice, Shanghai
19, you're an idiot, humans were on the earth at the same time as the dinosaurs. The evolution theory is a load of mixed up BS. If the earth was millions of years old, the earth would've collapsed already. Watch the science channel and eventually a program will come on about the earth's core.
If evolution was true, there would be solid proof that would make sense. (e.x.e my old teacher explaining the Big Bang the best I can remember. Teacher: "The universe was created by the Big Bang" Me: "What made the