9-pound “goldfish” captured in Upstate, S.C. pond

goldfish

Goldfish was discovered during electrofishing study

A trophy fish is alive and well in a Greenville, S.C. community lake. But it’s no bass, catfish, or crappie. The fish, a 9-pound “goldfish,” was discovered during a study of Oak Grove Lake’s health.

Ty Houck, the director of Greenways, Natural and Historic Resources for Greenville County Parks, said he doesn’t expect any other goldfish in the pond. He isn’t sure how long the fish has been in the pond.

The lake was almost fully drained recently when the lake was undergoing some repairs. This goldfish, however, wasn’t discovered until Nov. 16, 2020 when staff performed some electrofishing on the lake.

After weighing the fish and taking some photos, the staff released the fish back into the lake.

“The currently unnamed goldfish is obviously very happy and healthy at Oak Grove Lake. So we just said hello and put him back,” they said on the Greenville County Parks, Recreation & Tourism social media page.

Fish was actually probably a koi

It’s a good story to imagine a tiny goldfish growing to such enormous size, but as followers of the social media page pointed out, the fish is more than likely a type of koi.

Most also speculated it was a likely a pet in someone’s backyard ornamental pond, but grew too large for them to keep. In such cases, pond owners often release these fish into community ponds. This practice is frowned upon by fisheries biologists. However, it’s often viewed as the best choice among fish lovers.

Goldfish and koi are both members of the carp family and do have some similar features. They also both have the capability of growing to very large sizes when in relatively large bodies of water with a great deal of resources.

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