What is the largest fish ever caught?
We fished around an ocean of web sites to reel in the answer to your question. According to Ocean Link and several other fish-fact sites, the Whale Shark, or Rhincodon typus, holds the title of largest fish ever caught. In 1919, a specimen measuring 59 feet was captured in the Gulf of Thailand. Not coincidentally, the Whale Shark is considered the largest species of fish, as adults often grow to be 45 feet long and can weigh up to 15 tons. Whale Sharks are not related to whales (which are mammals, not fish). They may have earned the name because of their large size and the fact that, like whales, Whale Sharks are filter feeders. They suck up plankton and small sea creat