Bizarre, enormous and intimidating freshwater creatures, to the surprise of many, are gentle and good-natured, according to University of Nevada Reno researcher Zeb Hogan.
Hogan has crisscrossed the world studying giant fish – a category that defines fish species weighing 200 pounds or more.
Swimming next to the Mekong Giant Catfish, for example, is safer than watching TV, Hogan told KNPR's State of Nevada.
“To my knowledge, no one has ever been killed by one of these fish that I study. I was looking at the statistics the other day and it said 43,000 people a year are injured when their televisions fall on them,” Hogan said.
A remarkable exhibition featuring Hogan’s 20 years of research is currently at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.
“It’s really a culmination of two decades of work,” Hogan said.
Hogan has traveled on 50 expeditions, learning about the ecology of fish and raising awareness about the threats they face.
Hogan said 76 percent of the giant fish he studies are at risk of extinction.
“They grow slowly, they need big habitat, they need large healthy rivers and lakes, and they're worth a lot of money for people who are fishing for them,” the researcher said.
Hogan said damming, pollution, and climate change are on the list of threats to the giant creatures and says that “a lot of people don’t realize that there are fish this big that exist and are in trouble.”
Hogan holds a speartooth shark.
Hogan holds a vampire fish otherwise known as payara.
Zeb Hogan, UNR researcher, host of National Geographic's TV series "Monster Fish"