CLEVELAND — When most people think of goldfish, they probably imagine a family's first pet or something you win at a fair, but researchers say goldfish can grow up to 19 inches long and weigh up to nine pounds.
How?
The large fish are the result of people releasing their pets into the wild, which can lead to big problems for the environment. According to researchers, abandoned goldfish are capable of uprooting plants, contributing to harmful algal blooms and consuming native vegetation.
A new study published last month in the Journal of Great Lakes Research details how scientists are now tracking goldfish from Lake Ontario to better learn how to control the species. The research involved the capturing of 19 adult goldfish between June 2017 and October 2018 and implanting them with transmitters. Through the transmitters, the scientists were able to track the goldfish movements for pattern analysis at a later date.
Nicholas Mandrak, a biological scientist at the University of Toronto Scarborough, told the New York Times, "There are literally millions of goldfish in the Great Lakes, if not tens of millions.”
And Lake Erie is not exempt from this problem. Just last year, the Ohio Division Wildlife shared a photo of a huge goldfish they found at Fairport Harbor. The organization shared the image with a reminder to not release aquarium fish into the waters.
Margaret Osborne wrote for Smithsonian Magazine that while not all goldfish grow to huge proportions, even small ones can cause problems and spread disease. At the end of the day, officials are urging people not to release pets into the wild, as it can be harmful to the pet and to the environment.