Giant Tigerfish
Scientific name: Hydrocynus goliath Boulenger, 1898
Overview
Hydrocynus goliath, commonly known as the goliath tigerfish, giant tigerfish, or mbenga, is a large species of African predatory freshwater fish in the family Alestidae. It is native to the Congo River Basin and Lake Tanganyika in Africa.
From the Wikipedia article “Hydrocynus goliath”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
Common names
Also known in English as Goliath tigerfish.
Names in other languages (8)
- Arabic
- رشال عملاق
- Chinese
- 巨狗脂鯉
- French
- Poisson tigre goliath
- German
- Riesen-Tigersalmler
- Japanese
- ムベンガ
- Persian
- ببرماهی غولپیکر
- Portuguese
- Peixe-tigre-golias
- Russian
- Большая тигровая рыба
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: FishBase.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q1460026, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Hydrocynus goliath”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Sablegsd, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Kwamikagami, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026