When we think of a goldfish, we usually picture one of those tiny fish swimming in a bowl, but visitors of the Great Lakes have been surprised at how big they grow in the wild.
One of them is Mike Loughran, who tells Today.com, “I almost fell off my kayak.”
“It’s just crazy to see something that, growing up, you go to the fair, and you get a little goldfish in a bag. All of a sudden, you’re seeing one 14, 15 inches long,” he continues, adding that he has caught roughly 10 of the giant fish on Lake Erie.
According to The New York Times, feral goldfish aren’t exactly harmless — they’re an invasive species that can “kill off native marine wildlife and help destroy fragile and economically valuable ecosystems.”
Aquatic research biologist Christine Boston tells the paper the oversized fish can also “eat anything and everything” — and not many species can eat them.
“A fish would have to have a really big mouth to eat it,” she adds.