Passers-by at a popular lake in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah were shocked to see a massive fish floating in the waters in the Bukit Padang neighborhood of the city.
The 108kg fish, measuring 2.4 meters in length, and identified as an Arapaima, native to South America’s Amazon river, was already dead in the Tun Fuad Stephens lake when it was spotted by members of the public in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Arapaima are some of the largest known fresh water in the world, and have been introduced to other tropical regions from their native Amazon.
Just how this peixinho (lil fish in Portuguese) ended up in a Borneo lake is still unknown, but it is believed that a breeder may have disposed of it years ago in the lake after being unable to care for the massive fish.
A photo posted online of the shored fish piqued the interest of fishing enthusiasts, who wondered if the protected lake was now open to anglers, but alas the city’s mayor has confirmed that fishing is still a no-go at the lake.
As it were, a 6:30am jogger spotted the dead fish, and contacted authorities who pulled it ashore. Officials from the Fisheries Department, and Universiti Malaysia Sabah will now conduct a post mortem to determine the cause of death. Old age has been suggested as the most likely cause, but this has yet to be confirmed.
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