I have about 15-20 new baby goldfish in my pond this year - more than
usual. I noticed that 2-3 of them are oddly shaped, fatter and
shorter than the others, with strangely shaped fins, and have only a
loose resemblance to a typical goldfish. The original goldfish were
just the 10-cent feeders you can buy at a pet store. I still have
quite a few of the original stock fish, and they are about 10 years
old now. I don't have any other types of fish in my pond. The pond
has been very healthy over the years, so I have not had to do much in
the way of chemical treatment, other than an occasional dose of pond
enzyme. Fish & plants all look healthy. I swear, I never gave the
mothers any Thalidomide!
My questions -
1) Would these wierd offspring just be some kind of mutation or
natural deviation from the normal after a few generations of
in-breeding, or is this some kind of disease process?
2) Will the odd-ball fish cause any problems for the other normal fish
in the pond?
Thanks,
Gary