Fish Stories from National Geographic!

For the last couple of weeks, National Geographic has been brimming with interesting news. And you know we love animals and archaeology here in our house, so I have been trying to catch up. Here are a couple of articles on fish that we found interesting.

1. 57 New Freshwater Fish Species Found in Europe The new species were discovered during a seven-year assessment of the conservation status of freshwater fish in Europe that was conducted in collaboration with the World Conservation Union (IUCN). This is great news. Just a couple of weeks ago, I read a story about how freshwater fish were nearing extinction in Europe.

2. Taimen's Last Refuge Is Mongolia The gigantic fish is the world's largest salmonid—the family of fish that includes salmon and trout. The species can live for more than 50 years, but they grow slowly, not reaching maturity until seven to nine years of age, experts say. A ferocious and even cannibalistic predator, taimen can grow more than six feet in length and can weigh up to 200 pounds.

The taimen, the only fish species from the salmon and trout family large enough to qualify as a megafish, has already been harvested to the brink of extinction in neighboring China. Its numbers are also shrinking rapidly in Russia. Mongolia's pristine Eg-Uur river basin now remains one of the last strongholds of healthy taimen populations.