Carassius auratus

Goldfish at Lawson, ACT

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Identification history

Carassius auratus	2 May 2022	MattBeitzel
Carassius carassius	14 Mar 2022	MichaelBedingfield
Carassius carassius	14 Mar 2022	MichaelBedingfield
Carassius Carassius (Crucian Carp)	13 Mar 2022	LucaBiason
Carassius Carassius (Crucian Carp)	24 Nov 2021	LucaBiason

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User's notes

Caught and released one last night, approx weight 500gr. Am positive it was not a common or mirror carp. Have caught many of these in Europe and it was definitely a large Carassius.

17 comments

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

25 Nov 2021

Hi Luca. Do you have a photo so we can confirm your ID?

LucaBiason wrote:

25 Nov 2021

No, regrettably it did not occur to me that it may not have been a common catch in the lake, so I did not snap a pic but intend to do so if/when it happens again (I am assuming you are referring to the identification of the fish)

SteveBorkowskis wrote:

25 Nov 2021

Could potentially have been Carassius auratus as they are quite common and can be very similar looking to a Crucian, or even possibly a small Carassius auratus/Cyprinus carpio hybrid. Would be very interesting to see a verified Carassius carassius in our region. In saying this I’m not an expert moderator. Maybe try catch another and take some detailed photos. I have been told the number of scales along the lateral line can be important to confirm the species.

LucaBiason wrote:

25 Nov 2021

Indeed, am now kicking myself for not having been more quick witted about it. We noticed the absence of barbels as soon as it was in the net. It did look very much like the one in this pic found online, but I do not want to create false expectations either:
https://www.123rf.com/photo_124354443_raw-fish-crucian-carp-species--carassius-carassius.html

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

25 Nov 2021

Carassius Carassius would be an unusual find here. We would welcome any photos of it or Carassius auratus

LucaBiason wrote:

25 Nov 2021

What I can describe is a cyprinid with no barbels, plump body, large head and long dorsal fin, covered in medium-sized scales. Looked exactly like this: https://pescafacile.it/il-carassio/ As mentioned only as lateral reference, I used to catch heaps of them as a kid in Italy. Assuming it's one of them, the one caught the other day was unusually large (yet in that spot there's plenty of food and lots of good-sized carps). Now I am keen to get to the bottom of it: as they normally live in large groups there's a good likelihood that I may be able to land another one in the next few days. If I do, I'll snap a few pics and post them here straight away.
PS: exactly like the ones I used to catch, this one too - in spite of the relatively big size for its species - was reeled in almost as a dead weight, i.e. no fight at all other than a short rush when it saw the net. A carp of any size would have been a different story.

LucaBiason wrote:

13 Mar 2022

Hi everyone, I have not had much time to go and try to catch another one, but today I went for a stroll with my kid along Lake Ginninderra, and came across a gentleman who had just caught what I am quite sure are three Carassius Carassius, near one of the bridges. He had never seen that fish before and just told me it was not a carp, and a quick look confirmed the sighting I reported above. He had them inside his net and I asked to take a few pics, which he kindly agreed to provided we did not take them out of it. Now I just need to find out how to upload them. Note here
https://pescafacile.it/il-carassio/ the line of black dots along the side of the fish, and no barbels, which is what you can see from the pics too. Still intend to catch one myself at Lake Burley-Griffin, where I am sure there are some big schools near Nara Park.

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

14 Mar 2022

Very good, thanks Luca. To add the photos, load this page, then click on "Edit" at the top of the page. Then drag the photos into Media box. Then click on “Update sighting”.

LucaBiason wrote:

14 Mar 2022

Thank you Michael, as soon as I catch one myself I'll post proper pictures but I am adamant we have a winner and it's now present in both LBG and Lake Ginninderra :)

MattBeitzel wrote:

15 Mar 2022

Im not entirely convinced its not Goldfish Carassius auratus. Scale and ray counts are going to be needed from a really clear picture. Im counting under 30 for the lateral count from the ones I can see which is more likely to be goldfish than crucian carp.

LucaBiason wrote:

15 Mar 2022

Promise will do my best to catch one within the next two weeks, and take full pictures myself to best help with ID

LucaBiason wrote:

1 May 2022

Good evening everyone, this was caught today at Gungahlin Pond. I hope the pictures will better help with the identification.

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

2 May 2022

Hi Matt B. I look forward to your assessment.

MattBeitzel wrote:

2 May 2022

Ill call it a Goldfish and note there is plasticity and hybrids in cyprinids and the synonymy of Carassius carassius is disputed somewhat.
Lateral line count is 29 there are more rows of scales below the line than above. These are characteristic of the Goldfish.

LucaBiason wrote:

2 May 2022

Thank you Matt, very much appreciated.
May I check whether they had been reported before in ACT waters? They have now been caught in LBG, Lake Ginninderra and Gungahlin Pond, and I have seen no mention of them in the ACT Recreational Fishing doc: https://www.environment.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/576672/RECREATIONAL-FISHING-IN-THE-ACT_ACCESS.pdf
Am I right assuming they are an introduced species, i.e. pest?
Cheers

Walker wrote:

3 May 2022

Have’nt had a lot of experience with this species , would have to go along with the above .

MattBeitzel wrote:

3 May 2022

Goldfish are pretty common in all our lakes at times and the Murrumbidgee and Googong. The Gungahlin lakes Yerrabi Gungahlin and Ginninderra tend to have more of them than Tuggeranong and the Murrumbidgee. Most people mistake them for carp if they dont have the bright orange and white. Soon there will be an online lakes dashboard to show our lakes sampling results and stocking. While they are introduced (either from pets or contaminated stocking in the early days) they dont apear to have much impact on natives or water quality. For recreational fishing regulations they are the same as carp no bag or size limit but please dispose of appropriately. Regarding Crucian Carp - I'm also not an expert on them and don't think I've positively seen one. Given the plasticity in body form in cyprinids id be very dubious as to any that weren't properly taxonomically and probably genetically investigated. see https://www.environment.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/576660/fishintheuppermurrumbidgee9.pdf where Mark Lintermans considered them as synonyms with Goldfish.

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