By Sarah Hines, Year 11
Carassius auratus, also known as Goldfish are actually a lot more complex than we think. It is
common to say “You have the memory of a goldfish”, but did you know that goldfish can
Memory can actually last up to three months, and there are even some things that they will
never forget, such as where they live, how they get their food…
Goldfish can come in many different types, such as the telescope, the comet Goldfish, the
Shubunkin Goldfish, the Oranda and many others. But all these fish have one thing in
common: they all follow the same behavioural patterns and the same lifestyle.
Goldfish are known to be one of the messiest types of fish that you can own: they uproot
plants, overturn gravel, and eat constantly… But they are also one of the most affectionate in
their own way. They show their affection by greeting their owners by swimming to the
edge of the glass, and they also follow their movements by swimming alongside them. Finally,
they agree to be hand-fed by them, since the majority of goldfish dislike being fed directly by
a human, as they feel unsafe. This means that if a goldfish comes up to your hand and
feeds from it without hesitation, they trust you.
Another fact that people don’t realise about goldfish is that they can show various emotions.
When they are happy, they will swim actively around the tank and greet the people and fish
around them. In fact, goldfish are very sociable animals, and if they do not share their tank
with at least one other fish, they will end up in depression. You can tell when a goldfish is sad
if they stay at the bottom of the tank, hiding underneath the plants in the shade. They will
gradually lose their appetite and stop interacting with everyone. On the other hand, a
goldfish is scared when they start frantically dashing back and forth across the tank and then
pausing without moving and then dashing again. They will also sometimes hide under
objects, trying not to be seen. This shows their complexity and, in fact, the similarities they
have with humans.
Goldfish are also known to be very picky when it comes to food. They are omnivores, so they
need a balanced diet, but they have very small teeth, which means they can only eat certain
foods. For instance, goldfish can eat peas, but they have to first be peeled (to avoid them
choking on the skin), and they also need to be boiled (to be soft enough for them to eat
without too much difficulty). They can also eat carrots, courgettes, broccoli and spinach. But
all of the latter need to be cut up small and be soft enough for the goldfish to eat with ease.
They also need protein; they can acquire this through eating normal fish pellets (that have
crushed up daphnia, a type of freshwater crustacean). Some pet owners, on the other hand,
are known to give them real daphnia or even mussels.
Goldfish, therefore, have many complexities that humans do not realise and are a much more complex
complicated pet to maintain, then one would think.
