Some goldfish can grow to be over a foot long and weigh up to nine pounds.
Giant goldfish are showing up and invading lakes around the United States.
Most people are used to seeing small goldfish that can be brought home in a plastic bag. They get put into a bowl, get fed little flakes of food and they stay small. Over 400 million are sold every year.
Now experts say they have invaded bodies of water and can grow to be over a foot long and weigh up to nine pounds.
The fish end up in lakes mainly because people toss them there but they can also land there after being flushed down the toilet.
“Flushing the fish definitely could lead to fish living out in the lake,” veterinarian Ben Rosenbloom tells Inside Edition.
Goldfish thrive in big bodies of water. They can tolerate varying water temperatures and eat nearly anything.
“What happens is they have a lot of space, a lot of food. They reproduce fairly quickly and regularly,” Rosenbloom says.
There are likely tens of millions of these oversized goldfish living in lakes.
A goldfish caught by kids in Minnesota outside their home weighed about 10 pounds.
A fisherman in France caught a goldfish that weighed in at almost 70 pounds. He nicknamed him Carrot.
