Giant salmon carp

Q: Can you eat Giant salmon carp?

A large, rare freshwater predator from the Mekong Basin; rarely encountered and not well documented as a food fish. Potentially edible with firm flesh, but extremely uncommon in markets.

Q: How big does Giant salmon carp get?

Giant salmon carp can grow up to 130.0 cm long and weigh 30.0 kg.

Q: Where is Giant salmon carp found?

Known only from the main channel of the Mekong River in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. A large, predatory cyprinid restricted to swift deep stretches of the lower Mekong mainstream and its major tributaries. Large rivers of the Mekong and Chao Phraya systems in mainland Southeast Asia. Inhabits deep, fast-flowing river channels with rocky substrates. Critically endangered due to overfishing and dam constr

Q: What family does Giant salmon carp belong to?

Giant salmon carp (Aaptosyax grypus) belongs to the family Cyprinidae (Carps and minnows) in the order Cypriniformes (Carps and minnows).

Abstract

The Mekong mainstream is the only confirmed home of Aaptosyax grypus, a large predatory cyprinid recorded from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It reaches 130 cm and 30 kg on a streamlined, salmon-like body plan — silvery-grey to olive-silver, the scales faintly dark-edged into a lightly reticulated pattern, the belly pale silver-white. The species keeps to deep, swift channels with rocky substrates in the lower Mekong and its major tributaries. Overfishing and dam construction have driven steep declines. Encountered too rarely to figure in markets, it belongs to the family Cyprinidae, order Cypriniformes.