A local fisherman in Phitsanulok got quite the surprise when he reeled in a catch today on the Nan River: On the end of his line was an alligator gar (atrasctosteus spatula), a croc-like fish native to the Americas.
Somjit Chodchoey, 59, said the fish measured 1.5 meters long and weighs 10 kilograms.
Issara Suwittayaporn, a fishery scientist, went to check out the fish and concluded that it was probably an alligator gar. He guessed that a private fish collector let it loose in the river, the Bangkok Post reported.
The alligator gar is the largest exclusively fresh water fish native to North America. In 1910 a three-meter specimen was caught in a lake in Mississippi, as seen in the photo above.
