A record-breaking goldfish has been caught in Champagne, France, where an angler dragged a 50-kilogram specimen on shore.
This puny specimen was half the weight of record-breaker just caught in France. Image credit: KoiQuestion, via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0
Carp fishery BlueWater Lakes released the behemoth, known as The Carrot, 20 years ago and it has since grown to be one of the largest in the world.
It is double the size of the fish you see above.
Look at this.
The many different breeds of goldfish are all hardy, golden types of domesticated carp, coming in all kinds of curious color arrangements. They are sometimes hybridized with other fish like koi, as was the case for The Carrot.
Due to her carp-koi hybrid status, and thus 20 years to roam, The Carrot has grown to over 50 kilograms in weight. It took Andy Hackett from Worcestershire, UK, 25 minutes to reel her in before taking a few selfies and then letting the animal go.
According to IFL Science, the enormous size of The Carrot serves as a reminder not to release your pets into the wild. Yes, being hardy fish, they can grow this big, upsetting the silt bed and ripping up plants unused to them. Gigantic ex-pet goldfish have been reported as problematic in parts of America, and authorities believe pet owners are partly to blame.
Goldfish dumped into wild waters can mean that an invasive species ousts native species by outcompeting them for resources. Preventing that is a good idea.