Top 10 Giant Aquatic Creatures and River Monsters of India

The aquatic region of India is home to some of the biggest and giant aquatic creatures and the mighty rivers of India are also a good habitat for river monsters. Giant aquatic creatures and river monsters of India includes Indian mottled eel,Indian mahseer, Freshwater crocodile,Dwarf snakeheads,Wallago attu,Flathead catfish,large water snake,Dugongs and saltwater crocodile.

Kali River Goonch Catfish

Goonch is a monster catfish and man-sized killer catfish found in the Kali River in India and really a River Monsters of Indian Subcontinent. The river is known as Kali Ganga in Uttarakhand and series of fatal attacks on humans have been reported as well as an episode on River Monsters series about the Kali River goonch attacks on the Animal Planet. Image source:dailymail

Ganges Shark

Ganges shark is a critically endangered species found in the River Ganges and the Brahmaputra of India, Its different species of river shark which can be confused with the Ganges and Brahmaputra river bull shark. The Ganges shark is known to inhabit only in freshwater rivers of eastern and northeastern India.

Ganges Stingray

The Ganges stingray or Gangetic stingray is a species of stingray in the freshwater rivers of India and one of the largest species of stingray found in India. This giant stingray is a little-known species of stingray family, endemic to the Indian river system found on sandy bottoms in coastal waters.

Brahmaputra Bull Shark

The Bull Shark is commonly found species of Shark also lives in fresh water of the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers of West Bengal and Assam in eastern India. Bull sharks are apex predators and humans are their biggest threat,bull shark is responsible for biting swimmers around the Indian rivers.

Godavari Red Piranha

Red-bellied piranha is one of the most dreaded fish species in the world,has found its way into the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh. This invasive fish species from Godavari River is indeed a river monster of Indian rivers and ranked as one of the world’s most deadliest fish.

Cauvery Humpback Mahseer

Humpback Mahseer is one of the highly esteemed food fish and one of the largest fresh water river fish in India. Indian humpback Mahseer is most iconic fresh-water fish found only in the Cauvery Basin of Indian river system and is on the brink of extinction.

Chambal River Gharial

National Chambal Sanctuary also called as the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary is the only wild home for endangered Gharial. The Gharial is critically endangered and one of the longest of all living crocodilians species native to India and it will go extinct in next 10 year or so.

Kaveri River Mugger

Kaveri is large South India river flows through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and emptying into the Bay of Bengal, the river is home to Mugger Crocodile or Indian Marsh Crocodile in Ranganathittu bird sanctuary. Ranganathittu sanctuary has largest fresh water crocodile population in Karnataka state.

Mahanadi Softshell Turtle

Indian softshell turtle is one of the largest turtle found in the Ganges, Indus and Mahanadi rivers of India. This very large softshell turtle of India mainly feeds on fish, frogs, crustaceans and molluscs but threatened by hunting and habitat loss hence an endangered species of turtle in India.

Indian River Dolphin

Indian River Dolphin is also known as Ganges River Dolphin or South Asian river dolphin primarily found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers of Indian Subcontinent. Ganges river dolphin is National Aquatic Animal of India and protected under the Indian Wildlife Act, National Chambal Sanctuary and Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary are only two sanctuary in India dedicated to South Asian river dolphin.