Whenever a new species is introduced into an ecosystem it risks setting that ecosystem off balance, and that’s why biologist Sudeep Chandra is worried about the increasing giant goldfish population of Lake Tahoe. The fish are not native to the lake, and could be competing with other species for food, and pooping so much that they are affecting the algae populations in the lake. The real fear of course is that the goldfish will master SPLASH and gain enough experience to eventually evolve into mighty Gyarados.
Chandra and other researchers at the University of Nevada have seen an ever increasing number of goldfish in the clear waters of Lake Tahoe on the Nevada-California border, and worry about the effect they could have on the lake’s ecosystem.
With specimens being found up to 18 inches long, the goldfish appear to be muscling in on the food supply of the trout that are native to the lake. The nutrients being pooped out by the goldfish are also making the lake much more hospitable to large algae populations which could cause problems for other forms of life in the lake.
The biggest problem is that researchers aren’t sure of the consequences of the increasing goldfish population because there are no prior studies on the fish. As they are finding specimens, the researchers are bringing them back to the lab to be studied.
The increasing goldfish population in the lake could be a result of people dumping their aquariums into Lake Tahoe when they get bored of having the most boring kind of pet you can possibly own. If you’re doing dumping your goldfish into Lake Tahoe, maybe knock it off? Their poop is messing with the algae, and that could cause some problems.
(via Phys Org, image via anelasama)
- This giant goldfish was found in Kansas, and is giant
- Obviously, searching for Pokémon X on Google results in porn
- Here’s Barack Obama kind of singing the Pokémon theme song
