THE ABC is reporting that dumped goldfish have been found in Australian estuaries, prompting fears the fish could make their way into connected river systems and kill off native species.
Last year, scientists from Murdoch University discovered giant, football-sized goldfish weighing more than two kilograms and new research has revealed the invasive species are living in salt water, raising concerns that they could travel between river estuaries and colonise more ecosystems.
Murdoch University’s Dr James Tweedley said he was surprised one day in 2012 that his team started pulling up goldfish in their nets in salt water.
The academic has now analysed the research from that expedition, and tests measuring the salinity-resilience of the species revealed surprising results.
“Typically goldfish are a species that live in freshwater, like you get from your tap, but we were finding them in an estuary that has salty water,” he said.
For the full story go to the ABC article at this link.
