Golden Terror: Monster Goldfish Discovered in Lake Tahoe

You know that old urban legend about dumping aquatic pets down the toilet, only for them to grow into giant mutant monsters bent on terrorizing the sewers? Well, after a startling find in Lake Tahoe, it appears there’s some truth to the story after all.

This gargantuan goldfish is one of many recently found swimmingly contently in the waters of California’s Lake Tahoe. The “real lake monster” measures in at a foot and a half in length and weighs over five pounds, a big difference between your run of the mill aquarium fish.

“During these surveys, we’ve found a nice corner where there’s about 15 other goldfish,” environmental scientist Sudeep Chandra of the University of Nevada told LiveScience. “It’s an indication that they were schooling and spawning.”

Environmental scientists believe that the goldfish once belonged to someone’s aquarium, and were eventually dumped in the lake where they clearly got along well. Chandra isn’t actually very happy they’re doing so well, though, seeing as the goldfish are actually an invasive species wreaking havoc on the lake’s ecosystem.

“The invasion is resulting in the consumption of native species.”

Just be glad it wasn’t alligators.

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