The Sareng Catfish or Tapah (known officially as Wallago attu or Wallago leeri as well as a handful of other names in different places) is a large predatory catfish (almost all catfish are omnivorous) that lives in India and Southeast Asia.
During River Monsters Season Four in the episode Asian Slayer, Jeremy Wade investigated reports of this fish viciously attacking people. Throughout the episode, Wade's desire to catch this legendary, God-protected fish turned over to obsession. However, a warning from a Hindu Holy man that he saw stating that he would never catch the fish, and attempting would only bring bad luck started to come true when Wade faced lost fish, man-eating tigers, wild elephants, and unseasonably early monsoons. Wade never did catch this fish, despite multiple attempts in both India and a lake in Thailand, however, he stated that he would be back one day to finish what he had started.
Malaysian Lake Monster[]
In the final episode of the series Malaysian Lake Monster (episode 11 season 9) Jeremy renews his search for the Sareng. A tale has emerged of a fisherman who mysteriously disappeared on Malaysia's Lake Kenyir. The locals are blaming an Arapaima, another River Monster native to South America, that was allegedly released in Malaysia as an unwanted pet many years ago. However, despite claims from witnesses, most of the people Jeremy talks to have heard the rumors, but have never seen an Arapaima. Even though it could be that an Arapaima was released on Lake Kenyir, it probably would not be the culprit. Arapaima are only aggressive young. No one on Lake Kenyir nets for Arapaima, and for there to be a nest, two individuals would have to end up in the lake, and they would have to find each other somehow. This doesn't make sense to Jeremy, however, when he was talking to someone about the Arapaima, they brought up the Sareng. In Malaysia, the Sareng is called "Tapah". Elsewhere there are other nicknames for this fish.
The man tells of a Sareng attacking and eating a baby cow. Jeremy then travels to Borneo in search of more evidence. It appears the Sareng in Borneo are out to hurt people, and this gave Jeremy proof of intent. Jeremy also tried to catch one in Borneo, but it appears that they are now overfished.
He returned to mainland Malaysia where he met the Batek Tribe who told him about first-hand encounters as well as good fishing spots. Jeremy then hunts down the Sareng to a jungle as old as the dinosaurs. In the deepest pool, in the deepest jungle, Jeremy waited with his line. There were monitor lizards around the bank. Jeremy's guide, Rosland, even brought a small Keli Catfish which is said to anger the Sareng by its luxurious chin barbels. The Sareng has rather pathetic barbles on its chin. The 3 pound Keli Catfish is swallowed by a Snakehead, but a Sareng never bites. Jeremy feels the curse of the Sareng returning.
After a monsoon hits, Jeremy is in his final hours of Sareng catching season, when finally his curse is lifted when his bait is taken. The Sareng manages to wind the line around a tree branch, however. with Rosland's help, Jeremy manages to catch this fish. He concludes that the Sareng was also not the culprit because the victims at Lake Kenyir were not injured, and if the Sareng grabbed somebody then their arm or leg would look like Hamburger meat as Jeremy himself said. So the Sareng cannot be the culprit. However, Jeremy does not believe that his investigation was in vain since at last, he had come face to face with his greatest adversary.
The Sareng
Description[]
The Sareng catfish have been reported to grow some 6 feet long, and weigh 100 lbs or more. The largest Sareng could have been reported 180 pounds. This makes them Malaysia's largest freshwater fish.
Trivia[]
- In the episode "Asian Slayer", Jeremy hunted the species Wallago attu. In the episode "Malaysian Lake Monster", Jeremy hunted the wallagonia lerri catfish both different species with same characteristics
References[]
https://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/river-monsters/full-episodes/malaysian-lake-monster
https://www.fishbase.se/ComNames/CommonNameSummary.php?autoctr=303112
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