W. attu is found in large rivers and lakes in two geographically disconnected regions (disjunct distribution), with one population living over much of the Indian Subcontinent and the other in parts of Southeast Asia.

[3] In Thailand, its meat is popularly used to make thot man (ทอดมัน, "Thai fish cakes"), similar to clown featherback (Chitala ornata).

Popular accounts such as media reports, claims by fishermen, or local folklore stories, and even scientific publications, often confuse the two or are altogether unaware of the difference.

[2] The current rod-and-reel angling record for a Wallago attu caught in the wild and authenticated by the International Game Fish Association is a specimen of 18 kg (40 lb) from the Vajiralongkorn dam reservoir in Thailand, while some specialized recreational catch-and-release breeding ponds in the region claim to harbour specimens in the 20–30 kg (44–66 lb) range.

[6][7] It is thus assumed that reports about specimens even larger than that actually refer to Wallagonia leerii, which can grow to twice the length and several times the weight of Wallago attu.

[2] On the Indian subcontinent, its range includes all the major rivers of India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, such as the Ganges, Indus, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Mahanadi as well as the island of Sri Lanka.

Gut content analysis performed on specimens from the Godavari river in India shows that about 90 to 95% of the consumed food consisted of animal matter.