A snakehead fish weighing around 6 kilograms was recently captured in Luong Hoa Lac Commune, Cho Gao District in the southern province of Tien Giang.

Local senior residents said this was the first time in their life they had seen such a giant fish of the species

Pham Ngoc Tuan, who caught the fish in a small canal in front of his house, said he refused to sell the animal even though VND3.5million (US$167.95) has been offered for it.

“If I sell it, the natural resource will be reduced. But I’m willing to give it to fish hatcheries for free if they want to breed it,” he added.

In related news, earlier this month an unidentified fish whose head looks like that of a snake with the body and tail of a loach was caught and killed in a rural area in Hoa Binh.

The 4.2kg fish was very ferocious. If someone touched it with a stick, it would bare its teeth and even bite the stick, said local people, adding that they have never seen such a fish before. Dinh Cong Tuan, who later slaughtered the fish, said it had a spleen, stomach, and tongue like a pig.