Gold fish thrown into fish tank as prey survives against odds !!

Survival skills are techniques a person would  use in a dangerous situation to save self.  It is not only tools and technics, more importantly, the attitude and frame of mind, the will to survive.  One may read countless books and watch so many videos – but the ground reality could be far different !successful are those who fight odds !

Fishes are attractive and pleasing to look at – there are many species of aquarium fish that are kept in smaller tanks.  Gold fish in a small round bowl looks pretty  pleasing to eyes!  Some species of Gold fish and koi are amongst the most common pets of modern aquarium.  Gold fish exist in a far wider range of colours than the name implies.  They are  considered one of the earliest domesticated fish.  We tend to think that aquarium pets live in protected environment and if introduced to natural lake or other water bodies, could get killed and could vanish soon ! – perhaps not the case !!

A few centuries ago, keeping goldfish on bowls became a fashion.  The ensuing frenzy of artificial breeding produced hundreds of varieties of goldfish we see today.  While the different goldfish breeds have features that "satisfied human preference and curiosity", their ornate tail fins are "fancy but uncontrollable" and their bodies are "unfittingly fat", according to a 2009 paper of the Tokai University School of Medicine in Isehara, Japan.  Goldfish according to BBC Science are one of the most studied animals in the field of visual perception and cognition.

Years back, saw a big fat somewhat ugly looking fish displayed in a big tank in a friend's place.   It was Arowana, reportedly costing a lakh ! - people consider it lucky and keeping it would bring good .. and feeding it, the man dropped some live fishes in to the tank – for a second I felt bad for those preys and also thought that for some even those would be of some cost. Read this interesting post in MailOnline on a goldfish thrown into an aquarium tank as a snack for bigger fish, managing to hide from its predators, surviving and being  discovered – a good seven years later -  now been given its own display

The post is about a live goldfish thrown into a fish tank as food has survived against all odds after escaping into a filtration unit where it lived in total isolation for seven years.The plucky fish was discovered by staff at Japan's Shima Marineland during a routine clean out of the filtration unit - and has become an overnight sensation.

The living conditions for the goldfish in the tank appear to have been  perfect - it had grown to 10inches in length and fed off food scraps which passed through the filter.It has now been given its own exhibition at Shima Marineland (pictured) in Japan, where its tale of survival draws large crowds. 

The incredible tale of survival began seven years ago when the carnivorous arapaima displayed at the aquarium were fed live fish, Yahoo Japan reported.These fearsome creatures, native to South America and the Amazon, can grow up to 13ft in length and eat smaller fish.  The hero baby gold fish was thrown into the tank as live bait but managed to evade the predators by swimming down a 1cm-wide gap.Following the pipework, it ended up in the filtration unit where it lived in total seclusion and darkness for seven years, feeding off food scraps which made their way into the tank.

When found, its only deficiency was its colour. Because there was no sunlight in the filtration tank, it turned a shade of light yellow rather than dark gold. Though it makes an interesting read – how somebody remembered a tiny  fish thrown seven years earlier – why no similar fish were thrown 0r how people now say it is the fish thrown 7 years ago – all defies common logic.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

30^th June 2015.