Featured Image Credit: Murdoch University
By: Sarah Sharkey
There are giant goldfish on the loose in St. Albert, Canada and they are wreaking havoc across the city. The fish are no longer cute and little but are quite large. Measurements have been taken at 12 inches, that is a HUGE goldfish!
How did these fish come to be? The Godzilla goldfish are fish that evolved from the continuous release of goldfish by their owners. Their population numbers in the thousands in St Albert’s Edgewater Pond, and is expected to continue growing. With no natural predators and the ability to out-compete the native population, they qualify as an invasive species.
Wildlife officials are beginning to worry about the potential of these goldfish to spread to more water systems and lakes in the near future, where more vulnerable fish species reside. St Albert’s director of environment explained this concern with, “Because the species that are here now is extremely competitive with any native species, if it got into our Sturgeon River there’s a risk that the native fish that are in there would not live. These fish would out-compete them and we would have lower biodiversity and our natural ecosystem would be permanently affected.”
The officials are working hard to get rid of these fish, but it is proving harder than they thought. The fish have withstood harsh weather, lake draining and electroshocks. The next step is to try using chemicals to kill the goldfish only.
Hopefully, something works and the Godzilla-like fish can be eradicated before they do any more damage.
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