Goliath Tigerfish: Size, Teeth, Attacks and World Record

A goliath tigerfish in side view in a large aquarium: a long silver-gold body with big scales, a blunt golden head and sharp teeth showing along a closed jaw — Photo: Totti, Aqua Totto Gifu, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The goliath tigerfish is the biggest of Africa’s tigerfish, a silver predator of the Congo basin with teeth up to an inch long. The IGFA world record weighs 97 lb (44 kg), and it was caught at Kinshasa in 1988. The 150-pound fish you’ve read about have no certificate behind them. It lives only in the Congo system and Lake Tanganyika, so seeing one means a trip to central Africa.

Six of the seven goliath tigerfish rows in the IGFA record book come from one city, Kinshasa, between 1985 and 1989. The heaviest has stood since July 9, 1988.

How big does a goliath tigerfish get?

The honest answer is about 100 lb, give or take. The IGFA all-tackle record is 97 lb (44 kg). FishBase tops out at 52 in (133 cm), measured to the fork of the tail, and 110 lb (50 kg).

The IGFA’s own note goes about that far and stops. It says the largest “may exceed 110 lbs (50 kg).” Stories of fish up to 132 lb, it adds, “have yet to be authenticated.”

Above that, you’re reading numbers with no fish attached. Wikipedia and Discover Wildlife both give 6 ft 7 in (2 m) and 154 lb (70 kg). Fishing World Records lists a 253 lb fish and marks it questionable itself. It also has a 127 lb 14 oz rod-and-reel fish from Zambia’s Lufubu River, and the year on that one reads “19??”. The heaviest rod-and-reel fish it shows a photo of weighed 112 lb 7 oz, from the Congo in 2003. It also pictures a 123 lb 7 oz fish from 2002, and marks that one “not verified.”

Bar chart of goliath tigerfish weights in pounds: 97 lb IGFA all-tackle record in blue, then in gray 110 lb FishBase maximum published, 112 lb 7 oz photographed in 2003, 132 lb stories yet to be authenticated, 154 lb the 70 kg figure that gets repeated, and 253 lb marked questionable

Most fish run smaller. Discover Wildlife says adults average around half of that 70 kg figure. On one five-day fly trip to the Republic of Congo, the biggest goliath hooked was put at more than 40 lb. It broke the fly line and got away.

It’s a big fish, but it isn’t in the class of the largest freshwater fish. The giant arapaima and the Nile perch both weigh far more.

How big was Jeremy Wade’s goliath tigerfish?

The River Monsters clip of the catch describes it as an 80-pound fish from the Congo River. It’s not in the IGFA book, and at 80 lb it wouldn’t have touched the 97 lb mark.

What does the IGFA record book show?

It’s a short list, and most of it is old. These are all seven rows, with the all-tackle and 12 lb entries sharing one fish.

Record	Weight	Who, where, when
All-tackle and 12 lb line	97 lb (44 kg)	Raymond Houtmans, Kinshasa, July 9, 1988
16 lb line	92 lb 9 oz (42 kg)	Raymond Houtmans, Kinshasa, July 19, 1987
20 lb line	88 lb 2 oz (40 kg)	Jean van Loock, Kinshasa, June 28, 1987
30 lb line	71 lb 10 oz (32.5 kg)	Raymond Houtmans, Kinshasa, July 28, 1985
8 lb line	41 lb (18.6 kg)	Raymond Houtmans, Kinshasa, July 23, 1989
20 lb fly tippet	33 lb 15 oz (15.39 kg)	Jeremy Block, Vovado River, Central African Republic, Feb. 22, 2021

The IGFA still writes “Zaire River” for the Congo at Kinshasa and “Central African Empire” for the last row. One man, Raymond Houtmans, holds five of the seven rows. The other 73 slots the IGFA keeps for this fish are empty. That means no all-tackle length record, no junior record and no women’s record. The fly record is the only entry set since 1989. The striped tigerfish, by comparison, has 22 rows filled.

Goliath tigerfish or tigerfish: which one do anglers travel for?

Almost always the smaller one. The fish most anglers book a trip for is the striped tigerfish of the Zambezi, which Sporting Classics calls “Africa’s most revered freshwater quarry.” It calls the goliath “much larger and less frequently targeted by anglers.”

	Goliath tigerfish	Striped tigerfish
Where	Congo River system, Lualaba, Lake Upemba, Lake Tanganyika	West Africa to the Nile, south to the Congo, Zambezi and Limpopo
Color	Silver, no clear stripes	Silver with a bluish back, dark stripes, tail edged black
IGFA record	97 lb (44 kg), Kinshasa, 1988	35 lb 7 oz (16.1 kg), Kariba, 2001
FishBase top weight	110 lb (50 kg)	62 lb (28 kg)
IGFA records filled	7	22

Dead fish can fool you. The IGFA says a goliath is silver with no clear stripes, but “a few broad stripes may show up under the scales after death.”

A striped tigerfish laid flat on gray concrete: a silver body with rows of dark stripes, a blue back and a red and orange forked tail A striped tigerfish, the fish most anglers mean by “tigerfish.” Note the stripes and the red tail. Photo: Andrew Deacon, iNaturalist via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

There’s a third fish you’ll hear about. The Tanzanian tigerfish lives in the Mnyera and Ruhudji rivers of Tanzania’s Kilombero Valley, and it’s a separate species that grows large. A 28 lb fish from there was described as “clearly the largest tigerfish ever caught on a fly.” Five tigerfish species have names so far, and DNA work points to five more lines still waiting for one.

So here’s the pick. For a first trip, go for striped tigerfish on the Zambezi. Save the goliath for the trip after that, if you still want it.

Want a number to beat? The striped tigerfish all-tackle record is 35 lb 7 oz (16.1 kg), caught by Jennifer Daynes at Kariba, Zimbabwe, in 2001. The heaviest fly-caught fish the IGFA files under that name weighed 22 lb 8 oz (10.21 kg), from a Kilombero River tributary in Tanzania in 2007.

What do goliath tigerfish teeth look like?

They’re long, triangular and locked together when the mouth shuts. They can reach about 1 in (2.5 cm), a figure credited to Jeremy Wade. Discover Wildlife counts 32 of them and says they compare in size to a great white shark’s.

Don’t bet money on the count. The IGFA says 14 or more in the upper jaw alone. Wikipedia gives 12 to 20 on top and 8 to 14 below.

The fish keeps growing new ones. Wikipedia says all the teeth in a section of jaw go at once, over about five days. In striped tigerfish from Kruger National Park the swap took about 3 to 5 days, top and bottom jaws together. The fish fed differently while it happened.

Those teeth are why nobody hand-lands one. Seriously Fish, writing about keeping them in tanks, warns of “adult fish easily being able to sever a man’s hand.” Carry long fishing pliers, and keep your fingers out of the mouth.

Has a goliath tigerfish ever attacked a person?

Bites get reported, but the killings don’t hold up. A-Z Animals says goliaths “have been known to attack humans, causing substantial wounds.” On the worst stories it’s blunt: “there are stories about Goliath tigerfish killing and eating humans in the Congo, none have been substantiated.” FishBase rates the fish “Harmless.”

River Monsters spread the tales. One of its clips is titled “Goliath Tigerfish Latches Onto Man’s Throat.” In it, Jeremy Wade hears the story from someone else, so you’re getting it secondhand. Wikipedia says only that “a number of incidents have been reported in the Congo.” Discover Wildlife calls attacks rare, set off by movement or a flash of color.

Compare the piranha, whose bites in Brazil have doctors’ case notes behind them. The goliath could certainly cut you badly. None of the sources here points to a medical report for one.

Are goliath tigerfish aggressive?

Toward a lure, yes. Outdoor Life describes “lightning fast strikes” and “blistering speed that will drain a reel of line in seconds,” with jumps on top. On the Flylords trip, strikes snapped a 50 lb leader before the angler could get control of the fish.

Congolese people call the goliath the mbenga, and it’s the name you’ll hear on the river. Toward swimmers, the case is much thinner. Save the respect for when it’s on the end of your line.

Do goliath tigerfish really eat crocodiles?

Nobody has shown it. Outdoor Life says they “reportedly” eat small crocodiles, and the line gets repeated everywhere. The evidence runs the other way. “Aside from humans, the crocodile is probably the only predator of adult goliath tigerfish,” says Discover Wildlife.

A Nile crocodile on a sandy riverbank in South Africa holding a large silver tigerfish in its jaws, with a second piece of the fish lying on the sand nearby A Nile crocodile with a big striped tigerfish at Sabie Bridge, Kruger National Park. In the stories we can check, the crocodile is the one eating. Photo: Bernard Dupont, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Mostly, they eat fish. Wikipedia says the goliath takes any fish it can overpower, smaller goliaths included, and hunts from the calmer eddies in rapids. Discover Wildlife says it can take fish almost as large as itself.

The wildest true story belongs to its smaller cousin. At Schroda Dam in South Africa, striped tigerfish were filmed leaping as far as three feet out of the water. They grabbed barn swallows in flight, about 20 times a day.

Where do goliath tigerfish live?

Only in Africa, in the Congo River system, the Lualaba River, Lake Upemba and Lake Tanganyika. The IGFA uses the word “restricted” for that list. FishBase puts them in lakes and large rivers at 73 to 79 °F (23 to 26 °C). Wikipedia says they favor fast water with plenty of oxygen.

They aren’t in trouble so far. The IUCN lists the goliath tigerfish as Least Concern.

Where can you actually fish for one?

You have two choices: a hard trip for the goliath, or a much easier trip for its cousins. Here’s when to go for the cousins.

Water	Fish	Best window
Upper Zambezi, above Victoria Falls	Striped	June is the prime month; November to March closed to fly fishing
Middle Zambezi, Victoria Falls to Kariba	Striped	August to December
Lake Kariba	Striped	October, when the annual tournament runs
Lower Zambezi, below Kariba Dam	Striped	Late August to mid-November
Mnyera and Ruhudji, Tanzania	Tanzanian	August to mid-November, October first

On the Zambezi, a tigerfish over 10 lb is a trophy. In Tanzania, the mark is 20 lb. You’ll need a license in Zambia. Bait Your Hook says sport fishing there runs from March 1 to the end of November and is catch and release only. Get your outfitter to confirm the current rules.

The Congo is another story. The U.S. State Department rates the Democratic Republic of the Congo Level 4, Do Not Travel, in an advisory issued July 15, 2026. The Republic of the Congo, across the river, is Level 2. Read both before you price anything. The DRC advisory also covers an Ebola outbreak. It says, “Travelers who have been in the DRC within 21 days of their flight will not be allowed to board flights with U.S. destinations.” Outdoor Life says anglers may spend three to five weeks in the DRC to hook one or two fish.

How do you catch a goliath tigerfish?

Use wire and heavy line, expect to lose fish, and bring a deep-diving lure. Outdoor Life’s pick is a large deep-diving crankbait, because goliaths are spread thin across big water. It names the Yo-Zuri 3D Magnum Deep Diver and the Manns Stretch 30.

On the fly, Flylords’ Congo crew fished 10- and 12-weight rods with sinking line and a 50 lb leader above a wire trace. Their custom goliath flies lost out to small brush flies. Over five days they lost three goliaths, some on the strike, and landed one striped tigerfish.

For striped tigerfish, one South African tackle shop lists a lighter setup:

Rod: medium-heavy or heavy spinning or baitcasting, at least 5 ft 3 in (1.6 m).
Reel: a 3000 to 4000 spinning reel with a strong drag.
Line: 20 to 30 lb braid.
Trace: 6 to 12 in of steel, so the teeth can’t reach your line.
Lures: spinners, spoons, crankbaits and surface plugs.

Put treble hooks on lures, and use a circle hook on bait if you want a clean release. Bait fishing is common too: whole kapenta and fillets cut from local fish, the Victoria Falls Guide says.

Set the hook hard. On the fly, Aardvark McLeod says to use “a (very) firm strip-strike” with the rod low. Keep stripping right to the end, because tigerfish will follow the fly for several yards before they hit. When one jumps, keep your rod down and get the slack back fast.

Can you keep a goliath tigerfish in the US?

Not in Texas or Florida. Texas prohibits “All species of genus Hydrocynus,” and no one may possess them “except as authorized by the department.” Florida’s prohibited list carries “Genus Hydrocynus, all species.” Check your own state’s rules before you buy anything.

Even where it’s legal, skip it. Seriously Fish calls it “a species totally unsuited to aquarium life.”

Can you eat a goliath tigerfish?

Yes, and people in Africa do. FishBase lists the goliath as a commercial fish as well as a game fish. Nobody publishes much on how it tastes. For the striped tigerfish, the Victoria Falls Guide says the fillets are “meaty but bony and slightly oily,” and the writer loves the white flesh pickled.

On a sport trip it’s usually moot. Bait Your Hook says fishing in Zambia is catch and release only.

How do goliath tigerfish breed?

Not much is known. A-Z Animals says “scientists have not studied the species extensively.” By Wikipedia’s account, females travel together and lay thousands of eggs in thick vegetation near riverbanks or lake shores, then leave them. Young fish grow about 4 to 6 inches a year and can take up to ten years to reach full size.

Is it a giant piranha? Not quite. A-Z Animals says goliaths “are often considered a bigger and deadlier version of the piranha,” but the two are different fish that are only distantly related. There’s more on the river oddballs in our other freshwater fish hub.

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