River monster

This beast is a goliath tigerfish, pulled from the Congo River in Africa by British biologist Jeremy Wade, host of the Animal Planet series "River Monsters." It is as ferocious as a piranha with teeth the size of a great white shark's. According to the locals, it's the only fish that doesn't fear the crocodile, eating smaller ones and other prey as large as itself. It took Wade 8 days to reel in the 100lb fish using a sizable catfish as bait. After he posed (carefully) for the photos, Wade released the tigerfish back into the river, since his motive is to inform, not to rid the world's rivers of monsters. In the 2 seasons of "River Monsters," Wade has caught - among other things - a freshwater sawfish, an electric eel, and a short-tailed river stingray. Says Wade, "I don't see myself as a particularly expert angler. But what I am able to do is get into the kinds of places where outsiders don't normally go, with enough energy left to put a line in the water. Teaming up with local fishermen is vital to success, and what's great about this approach is that you get to see beneath the surface of diverse human cultures too." In an episode in its 3rd season, "River Monsters" will investigate the mythical namazu, a giant catfish believed in Japanese culture to cause earthquakes.