#An Invasive Problem

[xtruss]

'Megalodon' Goldfish Found In Pennsylvania Waterway — And Now Officials Are Issuing A Warning To Pet Owners

Releasing a Goldfish into the Wild Can Create "An Invasive Problem that Can last Decades," the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Said

— By Brenton Blanchet | March 1, 2025

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Corey Ketchum shows off a ‘Megalodon’ Goldfish recovered from a Pennsylvania Waterway. U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service/FaceBook. Your pet store goldfish after two years in the wild: ‘Call Me Megalodon.’ This goldfish isn’t supposed to be here. But someone released it, thinking they were being kind. Instead, they created an invasive problem that can last decades. Goldfish grow massive in the wild, where they can turn lakes and waterways into murky messes, steal food from native fish, and wreck water quality. If you can’t keep your fish, rehome it. Just don’t let it loose.

A bigger-than-usual discovery in Pennsylvania has prompted officials to warn what happens when "cute" turns to "brute" — as they're reminding the public that leaving a pet goldfish in the wild can create an "invasive problem that can last decades."

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) revealed on Facebook that experts spotted — and recovered — what they are calling a "megalodon" goldfish during a recent electrofishing survey in a Presque Isle State Park waterway.

Now, the agency is using the discovery to remind the public exactly why the aquatic creature "isn’t supposed to be here."

"Someone released it, thinking they were being kind. Instead, they created an invasive problem that can last decades," the USFWS wrote in a caption.

"Goldfish grow massive in the wild, where they can turn lakes and waterways into murky messes, steal food from native fish, and wreck water quality," the agency added. "If you can’t keep your fish, re-home it. Just don’t let it loose."

After posting a photo of USFWS employee Corey Ketchum holding the fish — which appears to be significantly larger than a standard at-home goldfish — the agency added the hashtag, "#InvasiveSpeciesWeek." Another image in the comments section, shared by the USFWS, showed another agency official holding the fish with two hands.

"From cute to brute," the agency captioned the snap.

From Cute To Brute! USFWS's Corey Ketchum holds a giant goldfish discovered in a Pennsylvania waterway. U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service/FaceBook

Elsewhere in the post's comments, the USFWS shared some insight into "how to break up with your goldfish," before amplifying a concern from a commenter about goldfish being used as bait.

"It's legal in 16 states to use goldfish as bait. All the states create their own fishing regulations, so it's up to each state on what they allow for bait fish," the USFWS clarified. "We always encourage anglers to never dump their bait after they're done fishing. Bait dumping is one of the many ways invasive aquatic species and pathogens are introduced into waterways."

The average lifespan of a goldfish in the wild is 41 years, according to National Geographic, which reports that they can top 5 lbs. in the wild. As previously reported in late 2023, goldfish have become an issue in the Great Lakes specifically, with an expert noting at the time that "millions" were swimming around.

They Can Reach Tremendous Sizes! This One Was 9lbs.

According to the USFWS' website, wild goldfish can "balloon into giant, football-sized invaders that compete with native species for food and habitat." Specifically, the species can make water murky, stir up sediment and uproot plants since they are bottom feeders, making it harder for native fish and plants to survive the environment.

Aside from their quick growth and disruption of water quality, goldfish spawn several times a season and have no natural predators, meaning they "multiply quickly" and stick around for a while, per the USFWS. They can also carry parasites and diseases for which other fish lack immunity.

Goldfish owners looking to part ways with their pets are encouraged to re-home them, return them to a pet store or contact local aquariums or rescue groups.

"Releasing a pet to the wild is never the right thing. Most pets released to the wild do not survive, and many suffer before they die," the USFWS shared on its website. "If it does survive, your pet could become an invasive species that harms native wildlife."

[arkangelo-7]

It must be so fucking weird for Bruce and Oliver to be on the Justice League. Like here they are with a bunch of metahumans, aliens, wizards and gods and shit, and they’re literally just Two Dudes. I bet they side-eye the fuck out of each other during League meetings bc like what the actual fuck? how can this be my problem? I’m going to the chiropractor after this?

[cubbihue]

I just want to see Cosmo, wanda, Timmy, Prei

And the god kids, if you want to

In a cuddle pile.

Cuddle pile!!! Once, Peri brought home a stray Furby. It brought the entire house into chaos as the Furby went feral on them. It took sacrificing Cosmo to it for the Furby to calm down.

It spat him out eventually, but the house was a wreck afterwords. Wanda refused to let Timmy or Peri keep it as a pet, thinking (rightly) that they're not ready for one. Cupid took the Furby off their hands afterwords.

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[godsoopsiewoopsie]

had to kill a beetle today because google said it was considered an invasive pest. this is so sad, alexa play tomcat disposables by will wood

[unknown-cold]

It's weird that people who claim to understand Vi's personality don't notice that she's changed and evolved for the better. And I'm talking about Vi's hatred of enforcers.

I see a lot of posts criticizing Vi for this. They don't know that one of the messages the Arcane writers want to send us is forgiveness and moving on. Holding on to the past, hating and holding a grudge only makes things worse for a character and increases her pain and problems, as we saw with Jinx and her intense hatred of Piltover, as well as her hatred for Caitlyn increased her suffering, problems and making terrible mistakes. The same thing with Caitlyn, her intense hatred for Jinx made her lose people around her, and increased her suffering and making mistakes as well.

So I don't understand why people want Vi to keep hating the enforcers, I get that they killed her family and locked her in a prison, but seriously guys this is not Caitlyn's fault, Caitlyn was the first person to treat her kindly, Caitlyn didn't care that she was from Zaun, or that she was a stranger and different from her, Caitlyn was the first person to show Vi love and care in a very long time, Caitlyn was the first person to show her that there are good people in Piltover.

The show wants to show us that we shouldn't judge people before getting to know them first, and not because of a bad experience. Stopping my whole life and living in hatred and resentment towards the people who wronged me, this will destroy my psyche.

I know that moving on isn't easy sometimes, but we have to do it for a better future for ourselves and the people around us. And that's exactly what the characters in the show did. Caitlyn gave up her hatred for Jinx for her love for Vi. Caitlyn knew that continuing in the cycle of violence and hatred would destroy her. The same thing happened with Jinx. She gave up her anger towards Vi after she joined the enforcers, in order to be reunited with Vander. She also gave up her hatred towards Caitlyn after she learned that Cait was a good person and not the bad enforcer as Jinx thought her to be in S1. Of course, this was after Jinx saw that Caitlyn helped them.

Caitlyn's desire to help Vander changed her mind. and not only Vander's help and Ambessa's betrayal but also something more important that I'm sure made Jinx change her mind about Caitlyn and later say "you deserve to be with her" to Vi, was when she saw that Caitlyn didn't come to kill her.

This and also for me it was Caitlyn's forgiveness. People overlook this moment so much, but pay attention to Jinx reaction when Cait is walking away after their conversation in the bunker. Jinx who minute before was sure that Cait is here to kill her, has her eye widen to the size of the saucer. When Caitlyn says "hating you I've hated myself" and then walks away Jinx is surprised and Jinx is not kind of a person that is easily surprised.

And I believe that Jinx’s reevaluation of Cait isn’t based solely on something about Jinx herself, but that she has seen her being good and selfless in other regards as well.

(and yeah I indeed wished they would delve deeper into Vi and her trauma instead of a 3-minute music video in ep 5, but what can we do? This is what we got) And tbh it's not that bad, the show was so good and enjoyable. It just needs to focus on the details and read between the lines, as well as rewatching the scenes more than once, because the writers tried to tell the story as well as possible in a short time.

After that, who knows? Maybe Vi joining the enforcers is a good thing for her to help her people, and also to be by Caitlyn's side as her deputy, when Caitlyn is sheriff. Like Cait and Vi will try to fix the enforcers system and make them serve the greater good for both cities.

[soulsty]

Fan art I drew of Phos and Cinnabar dying in glue traps

[merrymorningofmay]

another beautiful day of no ww3

[queeraang]

sometimes, you dislike a piece of media that is very popular and objectively well made. the popularity of it will only make it more annoying to you. now, the solution is not to then comb through a thing you don’t like to see if you can find something problematic to harp on to prove it's actually bad (you will find it, no human being has ever created perfectly inclusive perfectly inoffensive art) that just tanks the vibe and discourages new art because what's the point if it can never be perfect, also sometimes you spin out of control and start accusing people of real life crimes over like... a niche webseries

as someone with over three decades of 'bad taste' under their belt, allow me to guide you on best responses using a real life example of a popular film series, i couldn't give less of a fuck about. the nolan batman trilogy

block, mute, blacklist, whatever you have to do to avoid seeing this thing on your preferred webbed sites

allow yourself a quiet “ugh this shit” when things slip through the cracks

pick a neutral element of the thing to dislike when people ask “i’m not really a batman fan" "i like more lighthearted superhero movies"

when inevitably someone can't BELIEVE you don't LOVE the best thing EVER MADE, you make it boring to talk about "yeah couldn't get into it" "it's just not my thing"

it also helps if you admit that it is good (i'm so sorry) just not good to you. the metaphor i use is gordon ramsey could make the most immaculate mushroom risotto ever made, but it's still not going to taste good if you don't like mushrooms

change the subject/leave the convo. i don't sit around listening to ppl talk about the dark knight, i ignore the gc for a few minutes, i go get a drink irl, if it's one on one i go "no, but you know i did like birds of prey, have you seen that?"

if someone really won't let up, stop talking to them! a guy who always wants to talk about how i should watch batman is a fucking weird guy to know

vent about this with like minded people SPARINGLY, too much and you'll fall down the "and everyone who does like it is morally bankrupt" hole

crucially, don't do this to other people for stuff you like. you're not the arbiter of taste, your "best movie ever" could be someone else's "if i have to hear about that shit again i'll scream"

like i'm sure i could figure out ways the dark knight trilogy is racist/ableist/etc if i really examined it, but like... i would so much rather just NOT WATCH THREE MOVIES I DON'T FUCKING LIKE

[invasion-of-the-lose-art]

Fight the Leviathan

[aquareegia]

I guarantee you Vessel doesn't care about fanart and fanfiction. Let's be rational here.

[petitepatateuwu]

It's way too hot and I am way too tired to do any more efforts, so excuse the critical lack of quality here.

If you didn't know, Cole is my favourite Power Ranger :D

And while I was binge watching Ninjago I had the pleasant surprise to see him physically and mentally traumatized in season 5 😈

And since I'm a huge sucker for angst, my brain immediately thought of developing that idea in order to hurt my beautiful baby boy some more. That and also the fact that my brain immediately looks for logic in the laws of cartoon physics (I really shouldn't do that...)

So I bring you the "Cole is a Ghost Kind-of-Saga". I still have a few more ideas to exploit, notably adressing the ways the other ninjas will help him cope with his new condition :3

And maaaaybeeeee a small comic too 😇

Anyways, I will let my brain rest a bit for now and sleep.

[multifandominfj]

Someone hold me back, because I’m about to jump over this table to fight Bitchabel for taking these photos, and Jesús for using them as blackmail.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! 💀🤬

[augustameretrix]

I think this one line in episode 3 sums up what didnt work for me in season 2 and that is the idea that the arcane problem is not eminently political

[unrelatedsideblog]

Today I finally found my accidental roommate that was leaving slime tracks over my room for almost a week

About 12 centimeters long, and they have very beautiful colors and markings (pics don't give them their justice tbh)

Suspect has been released to backyard lol

[studioboner]

my most toxic trait is that whenever i see a specie native to here be an invasive species in a first world country i chuckle and cheer them on, anyway shoutout to sapo cururu i love you buddy

[gifti3]

the goverment is definitely figuring out this alien situation asap right?? cause whats happening currently is not feasible in the long run is it not??

im sure they are trying to maybe figure it out...probably, but part of me feels like it is not being treated with the seriousness it should be by them, which ig is in character LOL

pretty much relying on one guy (who doesnt even wanna be doing this) is actually scary

and the mc still has to like 'encourage' him to do it, tho its much easier in the 'ray ending' for sure. that man just wants to live a regular life with mc (unfortunately for him that means continuing to be binary star and dealing with aliens)

and if i was a citizen and knew this id be panicking

like yea u have these other heroes helping and stuff which im sure looks comforting from an outside point of view! but like the actuality is that its ray keeping things afloat

AND ON THE TOPIC OF THE MC, i was definitely in my head like....wouldnt rays superiors (managers??) get like curious about them? like no way theyre not being nosy about it after a certain amount of time passes. it really feels like something that could be leveraged against him,,, (if there is fic about this pls send it to me lol)

honestly i feel like mc and rays relationship would have moments of high stress. like there will be good times but also the bad times will also be there and its sometimes gonna be because of outside factors they cant control