Oldest Goldfish Dies

Tish, certified by the Guiness Book of Records as over 43 years old making him the world's oldest goldfish, has finally flipped his fins and died.

He was won on a roll-a-penny stall at a fair in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK, by Peter Hand, son of Mrs Hilda Hand, 73, who looked after Tish.

Over his lifetime, Tish changed from a deep golden colour to a light silver. He spent many years in a standard round goldfish bowl but his habit of trying to jump out of it persuaded Mrs Hand to move him to a larger fish tank.

He outlived all the other Hand family pets including dogs, guinea pigs and hamsters.

Hilda Hand attributes Tish's longetivity to good care. "I think a mistake a lot of children make is to overfeed their goldfish and put them in the sun. Tish was fed the same brand of fishfood every day and we kept him in the shade. We changed his water regularly and always used a net to take him out and not our hands. "I don't think we will be getting another one, we couldn't replace Tish, he was part of the family. People always used to ask how Tish was doing."