Fishy facts you’ll remember for longer than three seconds

Goldfish can live for 40 years and sleep with their eyes open as they have no eyelids

They can be trained to swim through hoops and pull levers to release food

Contrary to urban myth, the species can recall information for up to five months

This also means that they can pick out a familiar face among up to 44 strange ones

The tradition of keeping goldfish in bowls stretches as far back as the 12th century

They are able to see more colours than us, including ultra-violet and infra-red light

A group of goldfish is intriguingly called a ‘troubling’, not a school

Goldfish are a variety of carp, which means you can eat them – however most are much too small to make a decent meal, which is why they are seen as decorative fish

They make squeaking and grunting noises through their throats while eating

Like all fish, they can grow indefinitely, so there are likely to be even larger specimens

In the wild, they feast on vegetation, frogs, newts, fish eggs and insect larvae