A gigantic goldfish has been found in Lake Tahoe, according to LiveScience. Deep down in the depths of Lake Tahoe, researchers trawling the freshwater lake discovered a goldfish that was approximately 1.5 feet long and 4.2 pounds. The discovery has biologists in the area concerned about the goldfish population’s impact on native species of plants and animals in the lake.

“These fish are competing with the native fish, and that’s a big part of the problem,” Heather Segale, spokeswoman for the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California at Davis, told Reuters.

Reuters reports that researchers from the University of California at Davis and the University of Nevada at Reno, along with the fish and wildlife departments of both California and Nevada began an annual survey of goldfish in Lake Tahoe in 2006...

...According to the U.S. Forest Service, goldfish impacts on the aquatic community include increased turbidity, predation upon native fish and helping to facilitate algal blooms. They are among the most harmful non-indigenous species in North America, mainly due to their diet of aquatic vegetation...

...According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States and the tenth deepest in the world, with a maximum depth measured at 1,645 feet. In the United States, Lake Tahoe is second only to Crater Lake in Oregon. The Lake Tahoe Basin was formed by geologic block faulting about 2 to 3 million years ago.

Click here for video report: Monster Goldfish Are Breeding in Lake Tahoe.