looks like a mutated crappie to me.
Researcher Christine Ngai is seen with a Lake Tahoe goldfish in 2009, in this handout photo courtesy of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California Davis. REUTERS/Tahoe
Posted on 02/22/2013 11:47:37 AM PST by NormsRevenge
VALLEJO, California (Reuters) - Giant goldfish have mysteriously found their way into the famously crystalline waters of Lake Tahoe, the nation's second-deepest lake, alarming researchers and raising questions about the invasive species' long-term effects.
Goldfish weighing as much as 4 pounds and measuring up to a 1-1/2 feet in length have recently been caught in Tahoe, which straddles the California-Nevada border, and scientists say the influx threatens native species while posing a potential waste pollution problem.
"These fish are competing with the native fish, and that's a big part of the problem," said Heather Segale, spokeswoman for the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California at Davis.
A group of researchers from Davis, the University of Nevada at Reno, and the fish and wildlife departments of both California and Nevada were the first to study the presence of goldfish in Lake Tahoe, beginning an annual survey in 2006.
In 2011, the group began a project to reduce the number of goldfish and other non-native fish from the lake through "electrofishing," dangling metal wires from the bottom of a boat to stun fish with electrical current, then capturing the fish as they float to the surface.
Researchers then sort the fish, releasing native species and sport fish such as trout, and removing the rest.
The project has rid the lake of 50 to 60 goldfish a year since 2011, but their foraging abilities and potential to multiply means removal efforts must continue to keep populations under control, said Christine Ngai of the University of Nevada.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Now, if they were to cross breed with piranha, we might have a NatGeo or Discovery show on our hands. ;-]
looks like a mutated crappie to me.
Researcher Christine Ngai is seen with a Lake Tahoe goldfish in 2009, in this handout photo courtesy of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California Davis. REUTERS/Tahoe
Is that one of those fish you hang on the wall and they sing?
Arrest every goldfish owner in America and throw them all in Supermax.
These people are nuts!
Goldfish are like most fish, in that they continue to grow for their entire lives.
We had one in a pond that was about three feet long.
If any fish harm a lake, all fish will do the same harm. Goldfish are just carp anyway.
LMAO they are getting 50 or 60 fish a year through electrifyingthem, Big Deal
These fish came from someone who got them in a bowl at a carnival and dumped them in the lake.
My Brother in law dumped a few in his pond and now the pond is filled with them. He feeds them dog food pellets and when they come fo them the whole area is filled with them.
He can catch 50 with a dipnet in 10 minutes. They just keep getting bigger too.
Koi have barbs. These are actual goldfish.
4 pounds? We're going to need a bigger bowl!
Carp.
Please, no carping.
Those tasty little crackers?
Scale it, bread it and panfry it.
On a side note I hope they are not killing those as they would be worth quite a bit of money to aquarium owners.
“I did not think that gold fish could live very long in such cold temperatures,...”
Goldfish overwinter just fine. You do need to chop a hole in the ice of a small garden pond so they can gt air into the water.
Goldfish will eat the algae, helping to keep Tahoe “pristine”.
If I’m not mistaken, goldfish are domesticated carp. That said, some varieties are rather spectacular. They have no place in Tahoe as they are a “dirty” fish unlike the trout.
Scale it, bread it and panfry it.
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Careful of the bones...-...they’re a boney lot.....but toothsome.
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