Skip to footer

Monster goldfish found in Lake Tahoe could destroy lake's ecosystem

Monster goldfish found: Scientists are worried that an increasing number of monster goldfish found in Lake Tahoe are stimulating algae growth.

|
Heather Segale
Gigantic goldfish, like this one held by University of Nevada, Reno, researcher Christine Ngai, have been found in the waters of Lake Tahoe.
  • By Associated Press

| SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Researchers are concerned about a fish that's turning into a new threat to the ecology of Lake Tahoe.

Biologists with the University of Nevada, Reno say they're finding a growing number of giant goldfish in the lake.

While officials have been working for years in trying to keep the lake's water crystal clear, researcher Sudeep Chandra told KCRA-TV (http://bit.ly/Yo0lIn ) the discovery of the goldfish is particularly worrisome because goldfish eat a lot and excrete "lots of nutrients."

Those nutrients stimulate algae growth.

The goldfish, some of which have grown to 18 inches, could also eat smaller fish, creating new competition for native trout.

Chandra says with no prior studies on goldfish for guidance, researchers are catching the giant goldfish and bringing them back to their lab to study.

It's not clear how the goldfish got into Lake Tahoe, but it's believed to be from people dumping aquariums into the lake.

Information from: KCRA-TV

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Monster goldfish found in Lake Tahoe could destroy lake's ecosystem
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0222/Monster-goldfish-found-in-Lake-Tahoe-could-destroy-lake-s-ecosystem
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe