refuses to die in stagnant pond water
- Size
- Length: 15–25 cm, Weight: 100–500 g
- Lifespan
- 10–20 years
- Diet
- Insects crustaceans plants and detritus. Lives in farm ponds drainage ditches and slow-moving streams near towns or farms. Unwanted pet almost always escapees from garden ponds.
- Habitat
- Farm ponds drainage ditches and slow-moving streams near towns or farms. Almost always escapees from garden ponds or aquarium releases. The fish that refuses to die in stagnant water.
- Range
- North Island and top of South Island near towns and farms. Most common in farm ponds drainage ditches and slow-moving streams. Introduced from Asia now locally common in warm weedy waterways.
- Endemism
- Introduced
- Main Threats
- None. This introduced species is locally common but not considered a major pest in most areas. Can establish small breeding populations in warm weedy waterways but does not spread rapidly.
- Population
- Introduced and locally common. Not considered a major pest in most areas but can establish small breeding populations in warm weedy waterways. The fish that refuses to die in drains.
- Conservation Status
- Introduced
- Human Risk
- harmless
- Handling Note
- introduced freshwater fish, harmless to humans, leave undisturbed
- Conservation Note
- Introduced freshwater fish; widespread pest species in lowland waterways.
- Assessment
- NZTCS Freshwater Fishes (2023)
- Te Ao Māori
- The Goldfish has no Māori name because it is not a native fish. It came to New Zealand from Asia via Europe via the pet store. Today it is the fish of the stormwater drain. You see it swimming under the bridge. It is bright orange against the grey water. It is a living reminder that not all pets stay where they are put. Its presence signals human intervention rather than natural distribution. Mana whenua observe these introduced species with caution.
The familiar stranger of the freshwater world. It is a fish that does not belong but is here anyway. It is known from the pet store. Bright orange flowy fins swimming in circles in a glass tank. But in the wild goldfish are different. They turn back to their natural colour. This is a dark olive-green to bronze. They grow much larger than their pet store cousins. A wild goldfish can reach 30 centimetres. It can weigh over a kilogram. A pet that becomes a pest.
Survivors with a superpower. Goldfish can live in water that would kill most other fish. Warm stagnant low in oxygen even slightly brackish. They survive the winter under a layer of ice. They breathe through their skin when the oxygen runs out. And they live for decades. A wild goldfish might be older than the person who released it. A fish that outlives its owner.
The fish of the abandoned garden pond. Someone bought them as pets. They got bored. They dumped them in the local stream and forgot about them. Now they are there. Breeding eating and refusing to leave. To catch a goldfish is to catch a piece of someone's bad decision. The fish that should be in a tank but is instead in a ditch. It makes the best of a bad situation.
No Māori name because it is not a native fish. It came from Asia via Europe via the pet store. Today it is the fish of the stormwater drain. The one seen swimming under the bridge. Bright orange against the grey water.
The drain is dark. The goldfish swims bright orange against the grey. It is fat and healthy. It lives where nothing else can. It does not know it is a mistake. It does not know it does not belong.
It just swims. That is what fish do.
The water is still. The goldfish waits. It has waited for years. It will wait for more. The patience is involuntary. The survival is accidental. The presence is persistent. The goldfish endures. It does not care about taxonomy. It does not care about origin. It cares about the next meal. And the next breath. In the stagnant water. Where it belongs. By accident. By design. By neglect. The goldfish carries on.