Pet Goldfish, Released In Minnesota Lake, Grow To Gigantic Proportions

The discovery of giant goldfish in a lake in the US state of Minnesota has prompted local authorities to urge residents to not illegally dump their unwanted pets in water bodies. Sharing images of the goldfish on social media, including some that grew to about the size of a football, the Burnsville authorities said the fish “grow bigger than you think” and uproot plants and contribute to poor water quality. During a water quality inspection earlier this month, Burnsville officials found several goldfish in the city's Keller Lake.

Daryl Jacobson, the natural resources manager of Burnsville, told the Star Tribune that he expects these fish to be found in a lot of lakes around the metro, especially in low numbers.

Authorities have partnered with Carp Solutions, a start-up, to find out how many goldfish are in Keller Lake, CNN reported.

Caleb Ashling, Burnsville natural resources specialist, told CNN that they had reports from residents of large groups of goldfish in the lake, and added that some of the fish were the size of a football.

Carp Solutions owner Przemek Bajer said they did not yet know if all these goldfish were released by someone or if they grew in population after someone introduced a few of them in the lake.

Images shared by City of Burnsville show an especially large fish and several others in a water tank.

Please don't release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes! They grow bigger than you think and contribute to poor water quality by mucking up the bottom sediments and uprooting plants.
Groups of these large goldfish were recently found in Keller Lake. pic.twitter.com/Zmya2Ql1E2

— City of Burnsville (@BurnsvilleMN) July 9, 2021

Some Twitter users expressed their surprise at the size of the fish, while others said this wasn't the first such occurrence.

One of the users posted an image of a goldfish next to a large-sized show just to show the size of the fish, and wrote, “That's where I found this one a couple of years ago.”

That's where I found this one a couple years ago. pic.twitter.com/hAfCGuMHCn

— Josh Holt (@jholt52579) July 9, 2021

Another user shared an image of an eagle swooping down to catch its prey — a goldfish — and captioned the post, “I live across the street. The goldfish are easy prey for the lake's eagles.”

I live across the street. The goldfish are easy prey for the lake's eagles. pic.twitter.com/oLqWhpGqx3

— ericmpls (@ericmpls) July 9, 2021

A third user said they do not prefer to kill animals, even though the goldfish are known to be invasive, but “I am all for practical and ecologically sound solutions” to protect native species.

I'm not personally down to kill animals (even invasive ones) but I am all for practical and ecologically sound solutions to invasive species hurting our native animals.

— Sarah B (@TallTeenTurtle) July 9, 2021

When a user expressed surprise at how the goldfish survived the harsh winter of Minnesota, another outlined how they cope under unfavourable conditions.

Goldfish go to the bottom of the pond and slow their metabolism for the colder months. They generally don't eat until the water temperature is above 50 degrees F.

— Steff (@CT_Homesteader) July 10, 2021

Some Twitter users made fun or expressed frustration at the size of the goldfish.

That fish is like don't body shame me pic.twitter.com/Vx63uAlog6

— Black Lives Matter KC (@BLM_KC) July 10, 2021

Dang those are some Massive Goldfish...

— Minneapolis Collapsing (@MnEmployed) July 9, 2021

Goldfish are a type of carp known for having large eyes and great senses of smell and hearing. Dumping goldfish in water bodies also raises other problems too, as they reproduce rapidly and compete with the native species for food and leads to an increase in algae in lakes. They go from cute to villainous when released into the wild. Also, these pets, which hail from East Asia, are not naturally found in Minnesota waters.