# Heard of this myth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153 "2007-07-10T03:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/1 "2007-07-10T03:18:31Z")
I recently joined the Discovery Channel’s message boards to propose a myth to be busted. _A goldfish can survive a day in blood instead of water._ The first reply to that post was that I just made it up. But I first heard it in grade school. Anybody else hear of this myth? ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/2 "2007-07-10T03:24:19Z")
Never heard it, but if it might result in the death of an animal, the Mythbusters are unlikely to test it. And why a day? Why not forever? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/3 "2007-07-10T03:54:22Z")
[QUOTE=Mirror Image egamI rorriM] And why a day? Why not forever? [/QUOTE] I dunno about you, but after a day, my blood ain’t fit for swimming in. (Insert sadly absent vomiting smiley here -\> ) ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/4 "2007-07-10T04:28:29Z")
It just sounds completely made up to me. Under what circumstances would one leave a goldfish to survive in blood? How would that amount of blood be readily available, let alone disposable as a viable option in which to keep a fish? I gotta be honest, I’ve never heard of it and I don’t care to see that myth busted. Stick to shooting thawed chickens from cannons into cockpit windows, says I. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/5 "2007-07-10T04:55:13Z")
Never heard it, and it wouldn’t be at all interesting to watch get busted. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/6 "2007-07-10T10:28:50Z")
Supposedly, blood has the same proportion of salt to water as…well…seawater. But goldfish are freshwater fish. But the myth I heard was for goldfish. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/7 "2007-07-10T10:36:56Z")
[QUOTE=Enola Straight] Anybody else hear of this myth? [/QUOTE] Yes, or at least something very similar; Unfortunately I’m not much help because I don’t remember any details - it’s just a vague sense of “I’ve heard that before.” ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/8 "2007-07-10T10:56:40Z")
Never heard that before. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/9 "2007-07-10T12:20:12Z")
Only if it’s a VAMPIRE goldfish. Like those vampire peacocks. Otherwise, as noted above, the blood itself isn’t very good after even a portion of a day – it clots and thickens. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/10 "2007-07-10T12:53:57Z")
Clotted Blood Fish Pudding an English Lord’s Advent treat. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/11 "2007-07-10T13:09:29Z")
The only possible way to get this on the air is to work an explosion into it somewhere. No, I’ve never heard of it either. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/12 "2007-07-10T13:35:09Z")
[QUOTE=Enola Straight] Supposedly, blood has the same proportion of salt to water as…well…seawater. [/QUOTE] Do you have a cite for that? If that were true, I’d expect seawater to be drinkable. Which, it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/13 "2007-07-10T13:53:17Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] Do you have a cite for that? If that were true, I’d expect seawater to be drinkable. Which, it’s not. [/QUOTE] Rather than assemble a bunch of links, I’ll steal this guy’s answer. It fits the numbers I’m finding elsewhere, but it’s all wrapped up neat-like. According to some guy with letters after his name: > [@](#): > > The average salinity [of seawater] is 3.5%. > Your body has salt in it, too. The salinity of blood is 0.9%, so the sea has > about 4 times the salinity of blood. It is thought that at one time the oceans > were less salty and that life developed at a time when the ocean salinity was > much closer to 0.9%. > **[Re: How salty is the ocean?](https://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/Jun2003/1055727415.Ot.r.html)** ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/14 "2007-07-10T17:39:40Z")
I haven’t heard of it before. I did hear of the one where goldfish grow to the size of their tanks so if you put up pictures that make it feel like it’s in a big tank it will fill it and become tank-shaped. But that may have been a tall tale. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/15 "2007-07-10T18:15:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mirror Image egamI rorriM] Never heard it, but if it might result in the death of an animal, the Mythbusters are unlikely to test it. And why a day? Why not forever? [/QUOTE] They killed a slew of goldfish in that “goldfish memory” thing, when they didn’t bother to find out how to actually keep fish alive by cycling a tank. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/16 "2007-07-10T18:24:24Z")
I haven’t heard of this myth, but there’s the germ of a great country song in there. _She’s got a goldfish in her heart, I’ll have to try again tomorrow. There’s no room in there for me, And that’s the cause of all my sorrow._ 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![melvin\_coznowski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@melvin\_coznowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melvin_coznowski)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/17 "2007-07-10T18:31:25Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] **The only possible way to get this on the air is to work an explosion into it somewhere.** No, I’ve never heard of it either. [/QUOTE] Or make sure Adam gets slightly injured. Though I’d bet even he wouldn’t want to lose _that_ much blood. And for my $.02, I’ve never heard of this myth either. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/18 "2007-07-10T18:35:47Z")
I have heard that goldfish can survive in a wider range of water types than most fish, including more extreme temperatures, pollution, and salinity. It might have originated with something like “A goldfish can survive in water with 1% salt… That’s saltier than blood”. ---
**Author:** ![DustyButt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@DustyButt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DustyButt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/19 "2007-07-10T18:45:30Z")
I just can’t get past the logic. \*\*\*If we dont get some water this fish is gonna **DIE!!!** \* _Does anyone have any water???_ \*\* _(Man steps forward, and begins to roll up his sleeve.)_ \*\* _No, but you can take my blood._\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153/20 "2007-07-10T18:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] I have heard that goldfish can survive in a wider range of water types than most fish, including more extreme temperatures, pollution, and salinity. It might have originated with something like “A goldfish can survive in water with 1% salt… That’s saltier than blood”. [/QUOTE] My WAG of the logic behind this screwy idea was that blood carries oxygen, giving the fish something to breathe. But since the nearly all of the oxygen in blood is bound to hemoglobin and not in free solution, I would expect a fish immersed in blood to suffocate pretty quickly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-of-this-myth/411153.md?page=2)