[Image: Pickpik]
Conservationists are begging people to stop releasing pet goldfish into local waterways as the seemingly benign household pets can grow to gargantuan sizes, wreaking havoc on local ecosystems.
Pointing to a recent United States Fish & Wildlife survey of Presque Isle on Lake Erie, scientists say that pet goldfish can harm the water quality in only two years by uprooting plants, contributing to harmful algal blooms, and eating their way through vegetation in environmentally and economically sensitive areas.
The agency recently lamented on Facebook: “This goldfish isn’t supposed to be here. But someone released it, thinking they were being kind. Instead, they created an invasive problem that can last decades.”
There has been a recent increase in the number of pet goldfish found in rivers as owners seem to feel that releasing the fish into the wild is ‘the right thing to do’, except these fishies don’t belong just anywhere.
“Many of the reasons that make goldfish invasive upon release are the same reasons that they make great pets and pet trade species,” Sara Ricklefs, Executive Director of the Invasive Species Action Network, told Popular Science. “They are generalists so they don’t have many dietary or habitat restrictions. They’re a hardy fish and able to persist in the environment withstanding a range of water temperatures and water quality factors.”
Scientists urge people who can no longer care for a live goldfish to rather find another home, donate the fish to an aquarium or school, or return it to a pet store.
[Source: Popular Science]
