South Africa's Wild Common Goldfish Photo's & Information

Large South African Common GoldfishThe Common Goldfish is probably the most well know fish all over the world and is a great pet fish to be kept in ponds, fish bowls and fish tanks. The Goldfish have also become "wild" worldwide and in South Africa as well where people have released their domesticated Goldfish when they get too big or if they have too many into streams, dams and lakes. Therefore the Common Goldfish are an invasive species although how common they are in South African freshwater systems and what damage they do is not well known, in fact there is not a lot of information about the wild Goldfish of South Africa at all. However the Common Goldfish can grow to very large sizes when it is released into dams... They grow to large sizes in European countries and at the time of writing this the record was almost 3 kilograms... Imaging a 3 kilogram Goldfish! It just goes to show that domesticated fish can adapt very well when released into wilder environments.

Different colour South Africa GoldfishAs the Common Goldfish is not considered an angling species, it is quite hard to catch as only the larger specimens will take baits presented for Carp and getting a Goldfish the size of the world record is almost impossible in South Africa, but you never know the amount of domesticated fish being released into freshwater environments is increasing and they could start growing larger. But as anglers and conservationists we want to prevent this from happening so please if you are thinking about it, do not release your goldfish into a dam, river, lake or stream. They are not supposed to be there an they must be messing up the lifestyle of the other freshwater fish species somehow... Rather find an alternative home for the Goldfish if you no longer wish to keep them.

If you ever happen to catch a wild South African Goldfish please email me the details, location, bait and a picture or two I would be really interested to see the areas where Goldfish are distributed in South Africa, so please contact me. Below are some pictures and images of very large pond Goldfish, these Goldfish are from a nursery in Pretoria called Fibre Features, who specialise in Koi, Goldfish and ponds and pumps.

South African Common Goldfish In A Pond Big South African Pond Goldfish
Goldfish In A South African Koi Pond Common Goldfish