IS Tish Britain's oldest goldfish?

That is the question experts at the Guinness Book of Records are asking of North Yorkshire's Tish the Fish.

Tish is still swimming strong at the grand old age of 41.

The underwater wonder is the pet of Hilda and Gordon Hand, of Thirsk, and is on course to be a record breaker as the UK's longest living goldfish of all time.

When Tish turns 42, in July, he will splash his way past the previous record holder, Fred, who was owned by AR Wilson of Worthing, West Sussex. Fred died in 1980 aged 41.

Mrs Hand said the secret of Tish's long and healthy life was a lean diet and a nice, quiet goldfish bowl.

She said: "People often feed their fish too much, but Tish gets fed once a day in winter and a little more in the summer, and never too much. He also doesn't like too much noise or sun, so his bowl is in the hallway."

Mrs Hand, whose son won Tish at a fair in Doncaster 41 years ago, said: "He looks his age. There is no denying that because he has turned silver, with just a few flecks of gold here and there.

"I have always fed him Tetra food and although he doesn't swim around much any more, if he sees me coming towards him he always comes up to the surface."

Tish's tank-mate, Tosh, died 22 years ago, aged 19.

Now the Guinness Book of Records has asked the Hands to supply documentary evidence of Tish's age.

A goldfish expert at Tetra, the fishfood company, said it was possible to tell a fish's age by examining one of its scales under a microscope.

She said: "You can count rings, in the same way that you can find out the age of a tree."

The oldest goldfish in the world is reported to have lived for more than 50 years, in China.

In 1948, the death of an 88-year-old female European eel was reported at a Swedish aquarium.

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