Goldfish is a nice and wonderful pet but never release your unwanted fish in lakes or rivers or they will turn into giant pests. Studies show that this type of fish could be devastating to other fishes.
The Centre of Fish and Fisheries researchers at Murdoch University is dealing with the goldfish regulation for 12 years in the Vasse River situated in the southwestern part of Western Australia.
Goldfish is considered a type of invasive fish meaning it can cause devastation for the native fishes and the surrounding ecosystem. This is the reason why Stephen Beatty and co-researchers allotted a year studying the shifting scheme of goldfish in the desolate. The conclusion of the research has been having been published in the journal entitled "Ecology of Freshwater Fish".
Beatty informed Mashable Australia the reason why the study was conducted. It is because of the sudden and quick increase in aquarium species including goldfish being discovered in the Vasse River in the past 15 years.
"We think it's a major factor, people letting their aquarium species go. Unwanted pets, basically. They can do quite a lot of harm," Beatty said.
"We didn't think goldfish were that mobile. What this study shows is that they are quite mobile, but I think it's mostly to do with feeding and foraging," he added.
According to The Washington Post, goldfish despite its appearance is dangerous because it grows to a giant size. Its feeding habits include eating the eggs of native fishes. It could also introduce new diseases to the fish population in the wild.
The goldfish (Carassius auratus) is also a stout cold-blooded creature with a proof carried on one goldfish that was tracked in an Australian study which traversed 142 miles as followed by researchers for one year.
Researchers are now thinking of the best method on how they could rid of these fishes since they were able to find out their spawning ground. Other disposals include electrofishing and nets, however, Beatty acknowledged that it can be hard to get rid an alien species without damaging local fish population.