Spectacular find: Giant monster washed ashore - it's more than 20 years old
Created: 12/28/2021, 06:31 AM
From: Katja Becher
Biebesheim - An angler discovers a huge creature that has stranded on a sandbank on the Rhine.
He immediately recognizes what it is.
The picture that an angler took on the banks of the Rhine in Biebesheim, Hesse, looks like a creepy photomontage at first glance.
A huge monster seems to have stranded on a sandbank and perished there.
What looks like an alien is actually a catfish - a specimen over two meters long.
The experienced angler Reinhold Henninger, who shows his impressive find on Instagram, has a theory of what might have happened to the monstrous fish - and estimates the age of the Rhine monster at two decades.
Giant catfish photographed on the Rhine in Hesse: Angler estimates his age at 20 years
As shocking as the angler's photo may look, it's actually not at all unusual for a catfish to grow to such a proud size.
After all, the European catfish or river catfish is the largest freshwater fish in Europe.
On average, the fish reach a body length of one to one and a half meters and a weight between 10 and 50 kilograms.
But since catfish grow their entire life, they can also become significantly larger - even up to three meters long and 150 kilos.
That would speak in favor of Reinhold Henninger's theory: In an interview with
RTL
, the
angler estimates
that the dead colossus on the Rhine was around 20 years old.
He also reports on Instagram that he could not find any injuries on the animal.
“He could have died of old age,” suspects the experienced angler.
Gigantic catfish stranded on the Rhine: are the giant fish dangerous?
If you want to reconsider your next walk on the Rhine in view of the photos, we can reassure you: catfish cannot be dangerous for people - even if their size sometimes suggests this.
But: the fish are omnivores.
That means they like to snap at anything that moves.
Depending on its size, a hungry catfish can actually swallow full-grown ducks when they cross its path.
However, the 2-meter catfish from the Rhine in Biebesheim can no longer harm a fly - and has now become food itself.
The man who found the colossus returned to the sandbar three weeks after his spectacular find and discovered that hungry seagulls and crows had already attacked the huge fish.
A customer of the supermarket chain Edeka also made an unusual find.
And a Kaufland customer made a discovery in a branch that she didn't really enjoy.
She posted a photo of the disgusting find on Twitter.
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