Authorities say the giant goldfish is the only one of its kind that lives in the lake.
A goldfish weighing an astonishing 9 pounds was discovered in a lake in South Carolina.
The giant fish was found on November 16 during a study on the health of the lake in Oak Grove Lake, east of Greenville, South Carolina, when Scott Robinson was doing electric fishing – a method of measuring the health of the fish population .
But it was only on December 7 that Greenville County Parks, Recreation & Tourism posted a photo of the giant fish on social media.
“Is anyone losing their goldfish? This 9-pound goldfish was found on Oak Grove Lake during some recent tests in our lakes. The work included electric fishing, a method of measuring the health of the fish population,” they said in a statement. posting on social networks.
Speaking to WLOS, WLOS affiliate of Asheville, NC, Ty Houck, director of Greenways, Natural and Historic Resources for Greenville County Parks, said he is almost certain that the giant goldfish is the only one of its kind that lives in the lake since it recently completed an inventory of Oak Grove lake fish and, because it is so shallow, another of its size would be easy to locate.
Authorities said they were not sure how long it was there, but that the large goldfish was able to survive an almost complete drainage of the lake while it was being repaired recently and could have survived a previous drainage event too, according to with WLOS.
“[The] currently, the nameless goldfish is obviously very happy and healthy in Oak Grove Lake, so we just said hello and put it back, “said Greenville County Parks, Recreation & Tourism in his social media post when asked what they did with it.
Although the goldfish is large, it is far from the largest. According to Guinness World Records, the largest goldfish in the world belonged to Joris Gijsbers and measured 18.7 inches from snout to fin tail and was confirmed on March 24, 2003 in Hapert, The Netherlands.