Biggest Fish in the World, Ranked

Great white sharks are the most feared predators in the sea, but technically, they’re just fish. Whales are mammals, but sharks fall under the same category as Nemo does. The scariest part? As big as great whites are, they aren’t the largest. 

It’s tough to definitively rank the biggest fish in the world because the ocean is so massive. We know the surface of the moon better than we know the ocean floor and its (potentially terrifying) inhabitants. We’ve ranked these giant fish species based on their maximum recorded weight, but it’s always possible that an even bigger, badder fish lurks in the deep. 

Max recorded weight: 1,402 pounds

Max recorded length: 13.4 feet

Atlantic blue marlins are a fisherman’s dream. They usually weigh a few hundred pounds, and catching one is an impressive feat. Their deep-blue coloration and impressive length have inspired countless fishing competitions, with avid fisherfolk combing the sea for the largest specimen. 

They’re notoriously fast, strong and tenacious. They can break fishing lines and put up a powerful fight, but that only makes the competition more exciting. The largest recorded Atlantic blue marlin was caught in 1992 near Vitoria, Brazil. It measured 98 inches around. Blue marlins aren’t the biggest fish on record, but they’re one of the largest fish that actually looks like a fish, not a shark or a ray. 

Max recorded weight: 1,543 pounds

Max recorded length: 18 feet

The reef manta ray makes those aquarium rays in the touch tank look like babies. They’re the second-largest species of ray in the world, usually growing up to 11.5 feet in width and 18 feet in length. They could literally cover an entire living room floor. These majestic sea pancakes are primarily found in tropical waters, inhabiting fairly shallow regions near the coast. 

As large as they are, they’re peaceful. They eat by passively filtering zooplankton out of seawater. They can live for 50 years or more and are surprisingly intelligent for something that resembles aquatic breakfast food. They have the largest brain-weight ratio in cold-blooded fish species, and some populations even form close-knit communities. 

Max recorded weight: 1,780 pounds

Max recorded length: 25 feet

The tiger shark is one of the most feared predators in the sea, second only to the great white. Frequently reaching over 20 feet in length and weighing over 1,000 pounds, their lazy, slow swimming habits can deceive rookie divers into complacency. When they’re aggravated or hungry, they can go from zero to 60 in record time.

They can swim up to 20 mph, which is about twice as fast as an average person can run on land. They’re mostly found around islands in the Central Pacific, but be on the lookout for tiger sharks any time you’re in tropical or temperate waters. They won’t target humans on purpose, but it’s best to give them a wide berth just to be on the safe side. 

Max recorded weight: 2,200 pounds

Max recorded length: 24 feet

The Greenland shark is ginormous, but it’s also somewhat mysterious. Unlike most of the well-known shark species, Greenland sharks live in the frigid waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic. They belong to a family known as “sleeper sharks.” While they’re rarely spotted, they’re thought to be one of the biggest living species of shark. The maximum recorded weight is 2,200 pounds, but there are likely larger Greenland sharks out there.

If you’ve ever tried eating shark at a seafood restaurant, it definitely wasn’t a Greenland shark. Aside from being inaccessible, Greenland sharks have a high concentration of trimethylamine N-oxide in their bodies due to living in deep waters under pressure. This is toxic to humans, but in Iceland, some chefs treat Greenland shark meat to lower toxin levels and serve it as a delicacy. 

Greenland sharks often live longer than humans. They actually have the longest known lifespan among vertebrates. They don’t reach sexual maturity until around the age of 150, and one recorded specimen was estimated to be 392 years old at the time of its death.