COLOUR
Colour mutations
Several normally drab species have a natural tendency to produce red-golden colouration, including the orfe and the tench, the golden forms of which are familiar to fishkeepers; the goldfish (the golden form of the gibel carp) was first recorded in the Chun dynasty (265-419 A.D.). Some 800 years later, red and white colouration was first recorded. After a further 300 years calico fish were first recorded, but these were lacking in blue, which first appeared some 100-200 years later during the Ching dynasty (1644-1911 AD) together with bronze. Finally, shubunkins first appeared in Japan about 100 years ago, and the Bristol shubunkin standard was drawn up in 1934.

Environmental influence
The colour of goldfish is environmentally influenced, light being the most important factor: fish raised in a dim environment (such as deeper ponds, rivers, etc) develop (and retain) pale colouration, whereas fish raised in a bright environment develop brighter, saturated colours.

Pigment types, colour combinations and reflective qualities
There are either two or three types of pigment cells in goldfish:

black melanophores
yellow xanthophores
red erythrophores (which may in fact be the same as xanthophores, according to some authorities)

The presence or absence of these pigment cells in different combinations, together with variations in the chemical composition of the pigments and the location of the pigments, gives the following range of colours:

gold in wild goldfish, only melanophores and xanthophores are present, together with a well-developed guanine (silvery) layer in the skin, giving the silvery-grey colour; when melanophores are absent (as a result of genetic mutation), the fish is gold, orange or yellow, depending upon the position and number of xanthophores present
red goldfish with red colouration have abundant erythrophores present
white white goldfish have no pigment cells
bronze melanophores mixed with xanthophores give different hues of bronze and iron, including chocolate brown
blue in nacreous/matt fish (see below), when there are very few melanophores and these are located deep within the skin (and xanthophores are absent), the apparent colour to the observer is blue; metallic 'blue' fish are actually grey
black black goldfish have abundant melanophores lying close to the skin

In addition to pigment cells, there is a guanine layer in the skin just below the scales - all goldfish scales are in fact transparent; the nature of the guanine layer gives the following range of effects:

present silvery, reflective scales
partly present nacreous (dull mother-of-pearl) scales
absent matt scales

Colour types in goldfish
All goldfish are born with one of three colour types: wild type, bronze or pink (albino). The pinks and bronzes are culled by selective breeders, and the wild type colouration slowly changes (as melanophores are gradually lost) from black/grey to the adult, ornamental colouration.

Ornamental colour groups
There are two ornamental colour groups in goldfish:

metallic
calico
Metallic group

Metallic fish may be either all the same colour (self-coloured), the range of colours being red, orange, yellow, blue, brown and black, or a mix of colours (variegated), the colours being as before with the addition of silver and arranged in a pleasing pattern similar on each side. Metallic fish have reflective scales owing to the guanine layer present in the skin (see above); pigment cells are on the surface of the skin and colours appear as burnished metal on the body and should be spread throughout the fish including the fins.

Many metallic and variegated fish have dull body colour and lack colour in all but the roots of the fins; fully coloured fish are the more highly prized and do better in shows.

Calico group

Calico fish have a varying pattern of fully reflective scales (guanine present), matt scales (guanine absent) and nacreous scales (guanine partly present). Where matt scales are present, the following effects are seen: if there are no pigment cells then the body appears pink; if pigment cells are present at depth within the skin then melanophores appear to give a background blue colour (rather than black) and other colours appear more subtle including violet, grey and brown; if pigment cells are present on the surface then matt (rather than reflective) colours are seen.

When breeding calico fish, generally only 50% of fry are calico, 25% are pinks and 25% are bronzes.

Shubunkins
A balance of colours and reflective properties with an overall blue background is regarded as the ideal calico combination, and has a special term: shubunkin (which means red brocade in Japanese, the name coming from the overall red-on-blue colour pattern).

The term seems to be used for singletail fish only, namely the London and Bristol shubunkins and the Japanese shubunkin (the 'comet' shubunkin).

FINNAGE
All individual fins in goldfish are made up of a double layer; these lie flush against each other, giving a single fin two layers thick. The common goldfish, comet, London and Bristol shubunkins are all single-finned like the wild type ancestor.

If the fin layers split apart and grow separately from each other a double fin results, each only one layer thick. The double caudal and anal fins of the twintail varieties appeared as mutations in the Ming dynasty (some 600 years ago), as did the absence of a dorsal fin; these three characters, together with the shorter, deeper body shape, go to make up the eggfish, which is the oldest of the short-bodied twintail types and is the basis of the lionhead, pompon, celestial and bubble eye types.

There are long-bodied twintail types with the caudal fin completely divided, for example the jikin (or peacock tail) and the wakin, and long-bodied tri-tail types in which only the lower lobe is divided; these are less familiar to us in the West than the short-bodied twintails.

Then there are the short-bodied, long-finned twintails, which were developed from a short-finned twintail precursor (similar to the eggfish but with a dorsal fin): veiltails, orandas, globe eyes and the broadtail moor.

Goldfish finnage and body plan


The paired (pectoral and pelvic) fins prevent the fish from pitching (rocking up and down lengthwise) in the water; the median (caudal, dorsal and anal) fins prevent it from yawing (wandering) and rolling (rocking from side to side); forward movement is achieved by S-shaped undulations of the body and caudal fin; steering and precise control of movement are achieved by varying the angle of the pectoral fins.

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SHOW STANDARDS
The show standards used by BAS and illustrated in this website are the Nationwide Goldfish Standards of Great Britain published in 1995, jointly produced by four societies:

Association of Midland Goldfish Keepers
Bristol Aquarists' Society
Goldfish Society of Great Britain
Northern Goldfish and Pondkeepers Society
Points system
All of the approved varieties are judged on a common basis at shows. The maximum points that may be awarded are as follows:

body 20
colour 20
finnage 20
special characteristics 20
condition and deportment 20
total 100

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GLOSSARY
Anal fin The lower fin just before the tail
Anterior Towards the front of the fish
Body A fish excluding the fins
Brown Also described as chocolate
Calico Mixture of colours and reflective qualities
Caudal fin The tail
Condition The apparent state of health
Cranial Top of the head
Deportment The way in which a fish carries itself
Dorsal Of the upper surface
Dorsal fin The single fin on top of the back
Finnage The fin complement of a fish
Hood Rasberry-like growth on the head
Infra-orbital Below the eyes
Matt Without a shiny appearance
Metallic With the appearance of being shining metal
Mottled Marked with patches of various colours
Nacreous With a dull mother-of-pearl shine
Opercular Over the gill plates
Pectoral fins The first, forward pair of fins
Peduncle Where the tail joins the body
Pelvic fins The second, ventral pair of fins
Posterior Towards the rear of the fish
Self-coloured Having only a single colour, eg red
Standard The ideal fish
Trailing edge Posterior edge of caudal fin
Ventral Of the lower surface

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