Black goldfish?

[Mich50+]

Here is my intro thread :

Learning about my pond

Howdy all. I am in SE Michigan. Wife and I purchased a home last fall with a small backyard pond. 17 goldfish initially (I lost one in November so 16 at last count) and according to the prior homeowner they spanned multiple generations. He built the pond 12 years ago as a DIY project. I'm really...

www.gardenpondforum.com

I know next to nothing about goldfish. Miraculously, all my goldfish seem to have survived the brutal winter. Today we had a really sunny day and I fed the fish for the first time this spring. I only purchased the home with the pond at the end of last October. After throwing in some food, I stood motionless as I watched the fish eat (wheat germ food) and I noticed at times something seemed to be picking off food from the surface but I couldn't see a fish. Then as I focused on the sunlight illuminating the deeper part of the pond I spotted some fish I had never seen before. They are black or dark in color and about the size of minnows. Larger than my tiniest goldfish but smaller than most of my goldfish population. They seem more secretive and can only be seen with really good sunlight. I can't get a good enough look at them to see if they are goldfish. I only know for sure I have two because I saw them swimming in a pair. Black goldfish? Some sort of minnow? What kind could survive our polar vortex? My pond was 95% frozen over for weeks at a time.

The approximate 16 goldfish I have range from yellow to red to white + red. Some are rather large and some are tiny. The prior homeowner said he had multiple generations in the population and he did have some babies from last spring/summer survive. I'm assuming these are the tiny guys. But I have no idea about these black fish as I never noticed them before. Thanks if any ideas.

 

[Lisak1]

Lots of goldfish start out black. Some of them stay that way for a few years; some change the first year. I've got no idea why some change faster than others I just know I've observed it in my pond!

 

[addy1]

I have some black, some a golden brown, some change some don't. All part of the population.

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

Here's some of my babies from last season. As Lisa said, some start out the black/bronze color (nature's camo), and they may eventually change color, or just stay dark for life. We currently have at least two dark ones in our pond, and they are quite bold and swim out with the adults. But the light colored ones stay hidden - like they know they're prime targets for frogs!

 

[j.w]

Yes I also have black goldfish that will eventually turn to orange usually, or sometimes even white or yellow. Sometimes it can take years for them to turn. I had one that was around 6" stay black and then all of sudden it started changing. I kinda wish some would stay black but so far none.

 

[Seekerofclarity]

Could be mosquito fish.

 

[Mich50+]

Could be mosquito fish.

This occurred to me but thought I read that mosquito fish couldn't survive a cold winter (we had -13F and pond mostly frozen over). A few weeks after my original post the fish are still black. I can only spot them when I have direct sunlight hitting the pond and I throw in a bit of food. They are quite stealthy.