 | |
| Country of origin | China |
|---|---|
| Type | Fantailed |
| Classification | |
| BAS | |
The lionhead is a hooded variety of fancy goldfish. This fish is the precursor to the ranchu. [1]
| | |
| Country of origin | China |
|---|---|
| Type | Fantailed |
| Classification | |
| BAS | |
The lionhead is a hooded variety of fancy goldfish. This fish is the precursor to the ranchu. [1]
The tremendous hood or headgrowth and fat cheeks of lionheads give them a facial appearance similar to canine puppies. [2] The "wen" (Chinese term for headgrowth) fully covers the head, cheeks and gill plates of the fish. [1] [3] Furthermore, lionheads have short but deep bodies, and relatively straight [2] or evenly arched backs without dorsal fins. The finnage, in general, is short. Breeding standards require that the lionhead’s anal fins are paired, the double tail fin should not droop, and its upper edges should be held away from the body. [4] The tail of a traditional lionhead can be fully separated, partially separated, or webbed. The tail should also meet the caudal peduncle (the area where the body joins the tail) in a fashion that is almost perpendicular to the body. [1] [3] The caudal peduncle is ideally broad, allowing the tail to open when the fish swims. The back of the proper lionhead is quite broad to support the placement of the raspberry-like hood. [3] Hood development may vary but is more pronounced in males. The hood normally takes a year to develop in young fry. Mature male lionheads periodically shed patches of their headgrowths. [4]
Lionheads can grow up to 6 inches (15 cm) in length (including finnage) and may have metallic, nacreous or matte scales. [4] They are available in orange, red, white, red-and-white, blue, black, black-and-white, black-and-red, natural, and chocolate colorations.
Lionheads can also be crossbred with Ranchus to create Lionchu offspring.
Lionheads were bred in China to depict the image of the mythical Chinese lion-dog (the shishi, in Japanese legend). [2] They were introduced to Japan from China during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Japanese produced lionheads with more rounded back profiles, modified tails and diminished size of the headgrowth. [3]
Shubunkins are a hardy, single-tailed goldfish with nacreous scales and a pattern known as calico. The Shubunkins are of Japanese origin.
Calico goldfish are goldfish of any breed that have a type of scale that is intermediate between the metallic type of scales and the transparent type. These scales have a slight sheen that produces a pearly appearance. The name "calico goldfish" came about because the first fish that were introduced with this type of scales had a mottled calico pattern with several colours.
The Bubble Eye is a small variety of fancy goldfish with upward-pointing eyes that are accompanied by two large fluid-filled sacs. It is a dorsal-less fish – good specimens will have a clean back and eye bubbles that match in color and size. Their bubbles are quite delicate, so the fish should be kept separately from boisterous types, as well as sharp tank decor. Although the bubbles will regrow if punctured, an injury could leave the fish prone to infections. The bubbles can disadvantage the fish as it is not a strong swimmer, with a seemingly low bobbing head at times; bubbles are infamous for being sucked into filters and siphons in an aquarium.
The comet or comet-tailed goldfish is a single-tailed goldfish bred in the United States. It is similar to the common goldfish, except slightly smaller and slimmer, and is mainly distinguished by its long deeply forked tail. Comet goldfish tend to have a diverse variety of colors, unlike the common goldfish.
The telescope, telescope goldfish or telescope eye is a goldfish characterised by its protruding eyes. It was first developed in the early 1700s in China, where the trait was referred to as dragon eyes.
The ryukin is a short deep-bodied fancy goldfish with a characteristic hump in the shoulder region.
An oranda is a breed of goldfish characterized by a prominent bubble-like "hood" on the head. The headgrowth or hood may be a prominent growth on the top of the head or may encase the entire face except the mouth.
The Fantail is a goldfish that possesses an egg-shaped body, a high dorsal fin, a long quadruple caudal fin, and no shoulder hump. It is similar to the Ryukin, and is relatively common in western countries. The Fantail Goldfish is the base for many fancy goldfish species.
Pompoms, pompon or hana fusa are a type of fancy goldfish that have bundles of loose fleshy outgrowths between the nostrils, on each side of the head.
The Ranchu is a hooded variety of goldfish native to Japan. It is referred to as the "king of goldfish" by the Japanese. Maruko more commonly refers to the egg-fish goldfish.
The veiltail is a type of goldfish known for its extra-long, flowing double tail and high sail-like dorsal fin.
The celestial eye goldfish or Choutengan is a double-tailed breed of fancy goldfish that possesses a distinctive pair of telescope eyes, in which the eyeballs are turned vertically and the pupils appear to be gazing skyward.
The Pearlscale is a spherical-bodied fancy goldfish with doubled finnage similar to the fantail.
The Lionchu or lionhead-ranchu is a variety of goldfish that has resulted from crossbreeding lionheads and ranchus.
The Tosakin (土佐金) or curly fantail goldfish is a distinctive breed of goldfish with a large tail fin that spreads out horizontally behind the fish. Though technically a divided tail, the two halves are attached at the center, forming a single fin.
The egg-fish goldfish is a fancy goldfish breed which lacks a dorsal fin and has a pronounced "egg"-shaped body. The egg-fish breed resembles the ranchu, but lacks the "hood" typical of that goldfish; ranchu also tend to have shorter, squatter bodies.
The Curled-gill or Reversed-gill goldfish is another uncommon variety of fancy goldfish that has been developed by specialist enthusiasts. It owes its name from the out-turned appearance of its gill covers. This fish resembles a Ryukin. For the appearance of this goldfish, it has a fantail-shaped body with long finnage all round as well as a deeply forked tail; the color is typically metallic orange.
Hikari is a line of specialty fish food brand manufactured by Kyorin Food Industries, Ltd. in Japan.
The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have become an invasive pest in parts of North America and Australia.
