Had a blast sharing the history of Goldfish invasions with the Ingersoll District Nature Club, a wonderful naturalist club in SW Ontario.
While researching the topic I also came across some interesting historical artwork dating back to ~900 CE...
And also some work depicting Goldfish being enjoyed as domestic pets:
Last, a cursory poll of attendees suggested that average Canadians are quite familiar with Goldfish, though perhaps not with the abandonment of Goldfish into the wild:
Question | % "Yes" Answers |
Have you seen a Goldfish before (in real life)? | 100 |
Have you had a Goldfish as a pet? | 53 |
Have you ever released a Goldfish into the wild? | 0 |
Systematic data to follow, maybe.