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Subscribe to RSSScientists believe the massive goldfish may be the result of aquarium dumping, and could threaten the ecosystem of the lake. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
By Tanya Lewis
LiveScience
A new kind of lake monster has been found, in the depths of Lake Tahoe: gigantic goldfish. Researchers trawling the lake for invasive fish species scooped up a goldfish that was nearly 1.5 feet long and weighed 4.2 pounds.
"During these surveys, we've found a nice corner where there's about 15 other goldfish," environmental scientist Sudeep Chandra of the University of Nevada, Reno, told LiveScience. "It's an indication that they were schooling and spawning." The arrival of the fish, which were probably dumped there by aquarium owners, has Chandra worried — goldfish are an invasive species that could interfere with Lake Tahoe's ecosystem.
It's unclear whether the giant fish were introduced as fully grown adults, or while they were still small, Chandra said. But even a small creature can have a big impact, if there are enough of them.
The goldfish are just one of several species of invasive warm-water fishes in Lake Tahoe. "The invasion is resulting in the consumption of native species," Chandra said. What's more, the invasive fish excrete nutrients that cause algal blooms, which threaten to muddy Tahoe's clear waters. [Photos: Giant Goldfish & Other Freaky Fish]
Fish out of water
Aquarium dumping has become a common practice in the United States and elsewhere, and it's taking a toll on native wildlife. A recent report on California's aquarium trade found that fish owners and importers are introducing hardy, nonnative aquatic species to California waters. "Globally, the aquarium trade has contributed a third of the world's worst aquatic and invasive species," Williams, who was lead author of the report, told OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site of LiveScience, in January.
While the exact number of aquarium owners dumping fish is unknown, scientists know the practice is occurring because these species could not have ended up in these waters naturally. Between 20 percent and 69 percent of fish keepers surveyed in Texas admitted to dumping, according to Williams.
Other ways that invasive species find their way into natural ecosystems include aquaculture, live seafood, live bait, and fishing and recreation vessels. More than 11 million non-native marine organisms representing at least 102 species arrive at ports in San Francisco and Los Angeles alone, Williams has found.
The invaders include tropical fish, seaweed and snails. One of the nastiest is a deadly type of seaweed known as Caulerpa. A type of algae that produces toxic compounds that kill off fish, Caulerpa was eradicated in 2000 (at great expense) from lagoons in Southern California.
Don't dump fish
Aquarium owners should be more careful when disposing of unwanted fish and other animals, Williams cautioned. "It's pretty simple: Don't dump your fish," she said. Instead, she suggests calling the pet shop that sold the fish or your state department of fish and wildlife. (Euthanasia is another option, but simply flushing fish down the toilet can be problematic — for the fish and for your plumbing.)
So why do people dump fish? Studies of dumping have shown that size and aggressiveness of the fish are two main factors, Williams said.
The largest pet goldfish, according to the BBC, was a fish named Goldie that was 15 inches (38 centimeters) long and weighed more than 2 pounds (0.9 kg).
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they didnt say if they were tasty or not
I believe they are from the carp family so if you like carp I suppose you'd like Goldfish. They are a bottom feeding fish.
There's a secretive group of elderly retired people that travel the USA buying fish from stores and releasing them into the wild. They also help Asian Carp by sneaking them past the electric barrier so they can escape to the Great Lakes. This is another good reason to raise the retirement age, to get these people off the streets.
zheng; reminds me of 'off their rockers'!
I remember B movies back in the 80's about fish released from tanks (mostly pirahnas) and some kids would try to start their own 'invasion' by releasing them into Lake Erie. Good thing is that most are killed by larger, existing species or not well suited for winter environments. But, some local smaller lakes and ponds have been found to have, for example, African Clawed Frogs which can and do survive as they have natural protection per skin coating and are extremely hardy; also, they have their bad side of eating darn near anything close to their size.
I'd believed the invasive snake problem in Florida was much worse than ever touted years ago, and is now coming more and more to light. As long as people have access to various species, we'll see this more and more; it's not always unwanted pets but some do it for love of the species, for 'funsies', etc... . I'm certain it's moreso than let on, and those doing it don't fully understand or care of the consequences.
Is there a nuclear plant nearby?
Did the fish have three eyes?
D'oh!!
tastes like chicken.
Immigration is a bust all the way around, huh?
Won't even stop importing as "pets" deadly species that we KNOW people will just throw away when they get tired of them and don't want to support them any more... and I am talking about the non humans here.
Ban the importation and sale of anything that can't be chipped, tagged and traced back to its owner when found where it doesn't belong before our entire ecological system is destroyed.
Magikarp - karp - karp.
DID THEY FIND A RED GYARADOS THERE??????
They taste like cheese crackers.
We have a major "invasive species" here in California and they breed like rabbits! :)
Let me guess, they are being "introduced" from Mexico right? Good one!
Gold fish are Carp. Carp are native to almost everywhere.
No. He meant Right Wing Lunatics.
Gumps
When you find some, be sure and let us know.
We caught several large goldfish in Lake Erie in the past some over 2 pounds.
Immigration is a bust all the way around, huh?
Won't even stop importing as "pets" deadly species that we KNOW people will just throw away when they get tired of them and don't want to support them any more... and I am talking about the non humans here.
Actually, goldfish are no longer imported from China and haven't been for years. They're one of the easiest fish to raise commericially and in fact were the first aquarium fish to be raised in fish farms. Most goldfish come from aquaculture farms in Florida, so to refer to these goldfish as immigrants would be inaccurate. The irony is, most of these goldfish probably have ancestors who were brought to this country before the ancestors of some Americans arrived here from Europe.
Hey Zheng He, Instead of the retirees just turn the Chinese loose on these goldfish and they'll be gone in an instant. Isn't this the year of the fish? I wasn't aware that the Chinese calendar was actually the menu special for the year, you know year of the dog, year of the horse etc.
;-)
http://www.dudelol.com/img/remember-that-gold-fish.jpeg
Hmmm... Invasive species. Bottom feeders. Fact is, these "goldfish" will eat almost anything they think is food, including native species spawned trout eggs and trout fry.
The state and federal governments should consider establishing a bounty on all these goldfish that are proven to be of Lake Tahoe origin. (Otherwise, we would see people with the names like Carmine, Guido, and Bubba, farm raising the goldfish to transport them to Lake Tahoe.)
BTW - I am not in favor of forced commercials prior to looking at a news video. As soon as I see one coming, I exit. How do others feel about these forced commercials... ?
Yeah, nothing worse than an aggressive gold fish.
Whistle, I agree and I do the same thing.
It's Obama's fault!!! LOL!!!
Wait a second. What does her apron say..?!?
Tahoe Invasive Team Scientists
T.I.T.S. for short...
I see the updated version of the story no longer includes the original picture that alostfraggle mentioned.....too bad....I thought it was funny.....
As someone who maintains salt water reef aquariums and cichlid tanks, very little infuriates me more in the trade than people ignorantly dumping their fish or flushing it because they either didn't have the heart to euthanize it or simply didn't want to deal with it dying. That little bit of "compassion" has so much greater ramifications, especially with cichlids due to how insanely aggressive they are.
Seriously, if you're considering getting rid of your fish, do some quick research and find out what's the best way to euthanize it; humanely if you must.
Put it in a bowl of water and then place the bowl in the freezer right?
Except goldfish are well acclimated to the cold. My neighbor kept goldfish in a pond in her front yard. This is in northern Indiana.
I've got goldfish in a garden pond in central Wisconsin. Water never freezes completely through and I keep it aerated. I don't worry about it getting into the rivers around here because the blue herons and wild minks in the area keep eating the fish.
We had giant bubble eye fantail goldfish in the lake at Greynolds Park in Miami when I was a kid. Someone had let them loose there. The same park had peacocks that had roamed North Miami Beach for decades. These days its Iguanas. Might not be natural, but its awesome.
Goldfish are not edible for humans. I doubt if they would be common if they were. For people who want to get rid of goldfish, so many koi ponds are around that it should be no problem. As far as getting rid of other fish, why is it so hard to donate them back to a pet shop or aquarium, or give them to someone who has a fish collection? No reason to euthanize.
What do you mean goldfish are not edible to humans? Have you never been to a fraternity party where they gulp them down whole, and alive? They are used as food in Japan and grow to very large size. Goldfish are also very cold tolerant and can withstand being frozen. The story suggests that they are causing big problems but never indicated what those problems were.They can do a lot of destruction of habitat and consuming of other species egss so they pose a real potential threat from that score, but they also can provide a lot of extra food for other fish, especially bass. In some localities they are actually sold for bait and I wonder if these were originally dumped from someone's bait bucket.
Goldfish are just pretty carp. And carp are edible.
Goldfish have been used as lab test animals for decades, as they are cheap, ( the rod and cone cells in their retinas are large ). They have been used for bait, for both bass and catfish. They have been prizes at carnivals. They are raised as ornamentals in ponds, some by design, some by accident as when the kids who win the goldfish at the carnival get home. They are in the minnow family of fishes, to include carp(s), buffalo, chubs, as well as many small sized fishes. Koi is a fancy goldfish. They have a high tolerance for low oxygen in the water, can utilize a large range of food sources, and have high chemical tolerances as well. Birds and predacious fishes will consume goldfish, as will snakes. Their coloration is a detriment to them in the wild, so though they can get large most don't.
I'm inclined to believe that some little kid got this goldfish as a prize at a carnival and released it. When I was in kindergarden, and the teacher was out of the room for a phone call, the entire class felt sorry for the poor fish in the fish bowl, and "restocked" them where we thought they would be happy. That the teacher wasn't happy when she returned... well, I never remember her to be happy when she returned. Just more time out for the next plan.
You forgot to mention the goldfish swallowing fad that began in the '30's at colleges.
As a fish tank person as well, many people don't know how big gold fish can get. That large of a gold fish seems like a fully grown adult gold fish prob 10 years old or so.
It is "Blinky" the three eyed fush mutated from our polluted earth, but he now has an advantage over other fish.....
What??? Evolutionists have no answer for this? Gosh, it's only a very adaptable godlfish!
What are you trying to say?? Goldfish are very hardy. Living in a beautiful fish bowl like Lake Tahoe would hardly be stressfull for them.
It's got nothing to do with natural selection or speciation, at least for the time being. Goldfish are an unnatural addition to an ecosystem, so the ecosystem will have to adapt to it. But the goldfish could, eventually adapt to changes in the ecosystem, and that could result in a new species eventually. Speciation requires reproductive isolation to work. So as long as people don't continue to dump more goldfish into the lake, it's quite possible.
There - feel better now?
Evolutionists don't question this. Why should they?
And what does evolution have to do with this?
Within the hands of an Asian woman, *everything* looks huge... ;)
About a year ago while walking in Campbell, CA, my friend and I came upon a fisherman who had caught the double of this fish. We stopped and took a picture. The color of the fish was startling in its vibrancy. He took a bunch of pics then threw it back in.
Leave them alone. If they should not live there, they will die. You stupid Enviros want to mange the world. Idiots!!!
Thus begs the question...how did you manage to survive?
Paul, the article is about invasive fish species, not parasitic mites. People like you remind me of a bumper sticker I once saw that read: If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!
If they should live there, they'd have been there in the first place. And yes, "enviros" do want to manage the world, so that morons like you have a safe place to breed. Hmm, maybe we ought to rethink that...
There's nothing invasive about it. It's nothing more than a gold carp.
Pardon me..can you pass the Grey Poupon?
ya know.. if there wasn't so much media...this sht wouldn't be happening!
Since the media in which fish live is water. . .are you complaining that the planet has too much water? Really?
Medium. Media is where idiotic articles live.
The video description suggests that this is a mutation, but the article doesn't. Is this a successful stable mutation or just an abundance of nutrient that allows the fish to reach this size?
The bigger the fish bowl the larger they get. Plus, more food. I wonder if they are tasty.
They aren't mutants, at all. It's entirely possible that the news people only read what some other news person wrote.
@Paul from NM you're wrong. The only reason a gold fish doesn't out grow a small aquarium is due to poor water conditions and it stunts there growth. Goldfish are really dirty fish compared to others. A gold fish should live 8-10 years.
That's correct, Jeff.
Just when you thought it was safe to go to the fishbowl...
AGHH!! Another lake monster movie!
You're gonna need a bigger bowl.
Yea, these invasive goldfish could also threaten some of the California Fish and Games experiments like strout. That's a trout crossed with a Salmon. Looks like fish, tastes like mud.
The best way to deal with oversize pet goldfish is to get out the frying pan and cook them.
I don't trust this article, it sounds a little fishy.
This looks like the result of someone using goldfish as bait.
I routinely stock my back yard creek (man made, recirculating) and ponds with gold fish, because they are cheap, and very effective at mosquito control. Used koi in the beginning, only to watch large birds and raccoons catch them and carry them away for food. Way too expensive to feed the wildlife in my area that way. I live in Iowa, and have no problems with the fish staying outside all year round, as long as the water is deep enough in the pond. I move the fish out of the creek... no space there deep enough. Goldfish do grow very big, if feed and water area is large enough. My personal biggest one right now is about 3 lbs. I have had a couple that I simply did not like the coloration of. I took them back to the pet store, and traded the fish, barter system, for ones that I wanted. I don't know of too many locally run pet stores that would not be thrilled to lay their hands on a large fish. Chain stores might be a different story, but I always do business at a local "Mom and Pop" business. If you get tired of your fish, and don't want to kill them, at least give them a chance. Give them away on Craigslist.com, or take them back to the pet store...
Just sell the frigging things on Craigslist or donate them to a local school if you don't want them any more. Honestly, people are getting too stupid to keep goldfish these days.
Introduce the Northern Snakehead. They will eat all the goldfish and then some!
So, are they just goldfish, or are they mutated goldfish.
It's just a goldfish, nothing more than a pretty carp. Those snakehead ya gotta watch out for.
snakehead is an invasive from S/E Asia,I vote for Tiger Muskies.
Why are you morons tripping out about goldfish when there are more pressing disasters to worry about such as global pollution and widespread mispractice of dental hygeiene? Did you know that for every extra 10 seconds you brush your teeth for over the thirty-two second average you reduce your chance of gingevitis, tooth decay, and various oral infections by 15%. That means that if you brushed your teeth for a minute and a half three times a day you'd virtually gaurentee that your mouth would be completely healthy and cleaner than martha stewart's silverware drawer and maybe then you'd finally have the courage to talk to that pretty young girl you've been admiring at a distance for a while now and the white smile to back it up. f your golddifsh issues they won't make or break you but a good smile could be the difference between life and death if you let your dental health go unchecked and maybe with the extra money that you save from not hving to sit through multiple costly oral-surgeries you can buy a whole trunk-full of goldfish and unleash them in your special someone's bathtub when they're not home to spice up a big night.
"That means that if you brushed your teeth for a minute and a half three times a day you'd virtually gaurentee that your mouth would be completely healthy and cleaner than martha stewart's silverware drawer and maybe then you'd finally have the courage to talk to that pretty young girl you've been admiring at a distance for a while now and the white smile to back it up."
Not to flame or anything, but that sounds exactly like what a Norman Bates type of character would say.
You might want to watch saying that sort of stuff in public.
It doesn't make people have confidence in your words, or sanity.
@litterhater - My guess is, no matter how much time you spend brushing your teeth, that pretty girl across the room still isn't going to share a bathtub full of gold fish with you.
LitterHater, you must know how dental care will be handled under ObamaCare. Or will it?
don't try to make this a political issues you scraw I'm not talking about insurance-coverage or hippocrats and camellians or anything like that I'm talking about how we can all avoid costly dental-trips if we take responsbilitiy in our own lives and do the things that each and every one of us can reasonably do to ensure proper oral-health. you see the mouth is easier to keep healthy than the rest of the body becuase we can control what goes into it and can easily upkeep it by regular brushing, flossing, and messauging of the gums and molar-teeth whereas with your pancreas for example you can't go clean it you just have to hope that evverything works out alright. due to the amazing advances in dental-technologies and the easy access to maintaining a healthy mouth we can all step up and say that we will not let plague, tartar, and microscopic teeth-terrorists obliterate our oral soldiers and fight back. go ahead and ask obama about this stuff though you stump and i gaurentee that he'll also stress the personal responsbilitiies that we all have to propery oral hygiene and give credit where credit is due to all of those who have lived out this messsage in their day to day lives and maintained shinning smiles okay.
Why not?
You're trying to turn a fish article into a dental one.
Were you born a hypocrite, or did you have to work at it?
Based off the way you like to call people names, it sounds like your mouth is pretty dirty.
Ummm.....weren't we talking about giant goldfish & their possible impact in North American waterways?
And what the heck is a "scraw"?
LitterHater
WOW! You must be a real hit social gatherings! Time to start censoring this page...