I’ve lost my pond fish twice now.  The last time was when an otter got in and cleaned me out of £1000-worth of koi carp.  I have unsightly wire netting frames over the pond these days to keep it out.

Previously, I’d lost all my fish to parasites.

I’d been fishing to a nearby pond and caught a few tench.  Now for non-anglers the tench is a handsome, green fish noted for the muscular fight it puts up when it’s hooked.

Two other things characterise the tench.

The first is that it is capable of surviving a long time out of water; so with this is mind, I wrapped the best specimen in a wet cloth, brought it home with me and introduced it to my pond.

After a month or two I noticed one of my pondfish flippering like an aquarium dolphin across the surface.  Then a second.  And another.

Shortly after, I found one floating dead on the top.  Then a second.  And another.  Until the entire stock was dead.

On the advice of my brother-in-law who also kept koi, I examined the scales of one under a microscope and saw an infestation of lice.

I pumped out the water from the pond and scoured the liner to clean it.  When the level was down to the last four inches, there in the muddy bottom, happy as Larry, flopped the tench.

The second characteristic of this fish is its slimy skin, said to be beneficial to other fish, giving it the nickname The Doctor Fish.

Mine must have been called “Shipman”.