Ichthyology: Dead giant Arapaima fish, also known as pirarucu, scientific name is Arapaima Gigas found in lake at the Tun Fuad Stephens Park, Kota Kinabalu.

The dead arapaima found in the lake at the Tun Fuad Stephens Park, Kota Kinabalu.

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KOTA KINABALU: A dead six-foot long arapaima found in the lake at Tun Fuad Stephens Park here could have been released there by its previous owner.

The fish is not native to Sabah and is not among those reared by City Hall in the lake, according to Mayor Datuk Nordin Siman.

Commenting on the arapaima found in the lake on Monday morning, Nordin said the fish’s previous owner could have released it in the Bukit Padang lake because he or she was no longer able to keep it.

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The fish’s carcass has been taken by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Borneo Marine Research Institute for tests.

Photos of the dead fish, which is native to the Amazon River in South America made its rounds on social media yesterday. Its scientific name is arapaima gigas and the fish can grow up to more than seven feet in length.

People were posing next to the fish after it was brought out of the lake. It is believed to weigh about 100kg.

Nordin said that the discovery was made by Cyrill, a personnel of the Park Landscape Department while he was going about his duties.

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He saw something floating near the bank of the lake and assumed that it was rubbish.

Upon checking he was surprised to see that it was the carcass of a big fish. With the help of a few colleagues, they got the fish ashore.