Mutant Goldfish?

[darkdep]

I have a question for the Ovas community, and I mean it as an actual question, not some kind of insulting comment...

What is the allure people have to the weird "mutant looking" goldfish with the giant bulging eyes and split tails and all?

I personally look at these fish with disgust.  Obviously that's just one person's opinion, and in my own ignorance I assumed most fish enthusiasts felt the same way.  But, I've been reading posts that indicate many of you are into these kinds of fish.  

So, to better educate myself, I'm interested in knowing...well...what's up with these things?  They look like they'd have a hard time surviving with their body shape and all...

[Mettle]

It's all appeal and different strokes for different folks.

A good portion of the fish we see in the hobby are altered or cultivated for the pet industry. Look at bettas for example - they don't look like that in the wild. Some strains of cichlids are complete hybrids (flowerhorn and parrots come to mind) while some have simply been bred for size and nuchal (sp?) humps.

My mom has a black moore and a red cap oranda fantail - and the oranda in particular, I find, is gorgeous. Just depends on what you like I guess.

[squeeker]

My answer - because they're so darn cute!

I also find that goldfish have great personalities.  They are friendly, curious, and personable.  I find them much more interesting than most tropical fish.

[Quatro]

the oranda in particular, I find, is gorgeous.

Hmmm, Oranda's are the ones with the extra brain tissue.  I can almost hear the mind control.....I AM A PRETTY FISH....A VERY PRETTY FISH...DO NOT FEED ME TO YOUR OSCAR.   :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

I agree with darkdep that some of the fancy goldfish are freaky looking (the ones with airbags under their eyes  :shock: ).  That being said, some of the fancy goldfish are very attractive.

Mike S

[gvv]

Actually they are not mutants, just selective breeding. That's why you have just usual crucians in the offsprings sometimes.
As for me, I think that some of them are very cute and others too strange. But different people have different opinions.

Regards

[Aiglos]

Actually they are not mutants

Actually they are mutants.   Once they find several mutants like that, THEN they start selective breeding.

[Sam]

Actually they are not mutants

Actually they are mutants.

Another post starting with "acually"

Actually they are the descendents of mutants, although some might argue that they are mutants because they have a unique DNA sequence.  It would be a muttant if a Commet egg produced an Oranda-like growth,  but if an Oranda egg produces an Oranda everything is normal, just following the code.  

The truth is the early fancy goldfish breeders noticed similar mutations among the 1000s of fish tehy were breeding. In the case of an oranda, they would take the two fish with the biggest heads (and therefore the most expressed 'oranda gene') and mate them.  Then repeat over, and over, and over, and over until from a ever so smart carp you get the horrifically stupid fancy goldfish that barely know how to feed themselves... (Its the same thing with Dachshunds, too much inbreeding lead to a less than perfect brain inside an oh so cute body).

But both the Dachshund and the fancy goldfish are attactive, and as any psychologist will tell you,  people tend to presume attractive people (fish are people too) are smart based on no factual information, but if you were to observe one of these brainiac fish for a couple hours I'm sure you would all realize how 'smart' they really are.


Sam

PS: But don't underestimate the power of the goldfish brain! I refer you to the Mythbusters episode where they teach goldfish to perform the simple task of swimming a maze.  They have the ability to learn, and will learn your habbits regarding feeding the, and they do remember things for more than 3 minutes.  .

[jaracas]

Actually they are not mutants, just selective breeding. That's why you have just usual crucians in the offsprings sometimes.
As for me, I think that some of them are very cute and others too strange. But different people have different opinions.

Regards

Crucians and Goldfish are two seperate species, the Crucian being Carassius carassius and the Goldfish Carassius auratus.
Their taxonomy is different although it is possible to hybridize the two.
The Crucian Carp can be distinguished from the Goldfish, by it's colour being dark brownish across the back , bronze or greyish green sides and a yellowish or white belly (although colour isn't a taxonomic feature). Also the dorsal fin which is convex on the Crucian where as on the Goldfish, tends to be more concave. The leading ray of the dorsal fin has around 30 small barbs compared to the Goldfish's 10 - 15.
The Bronze Goldfish is a colour morph, just like an albino is, and the orange Goldfish is actually the wild colouration.

oh, and the bubble eyed ones were first documented in breeding nearly 100 years ago (who says cosmetic breeding is a new thing )

hth

[Sam]

oh, and the bubble eyed ones were first documented in breeding nearly 100 years ago (who says cosmetic breeding is a new thing )

hth

I knew this before my search, but from my 20 seconds of googling I found this info on the early days of ornamental goldfish.

"It has been noted that the ancient Babylonians kept ponds of ornamental fish and this was circa 500 BC.
The most important contributor to the art of fish keeping was the Chinese. Goldfish were the first ornamental fish to be kept. These fish date back to 960 AD during the Sung Dynasty in China. Ponds stocked with ornamental fish gained popularity among the rich from 968-975 and eating the fish was strictly prohibited." (DuHamel, 2003).

That's from: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tropical_fish/101988
Not too informative but it gets the job done.



SAM

[gvv]

Sam: You quoted the wrong person

jaracas: You are right I wanted to say they are both "Carassius".

[darkdep]

They're still ugly.  :lol:  (ducks)

[Mettle]

I just bought my bother a couple of new guys today to go along with her two she already has... A pearl scale and a blue oranda. I think both are cute.

Goldfish are a different variety of fish all together. They're dumb and goofy and simply fun. I like them a lot.

[luvfishies]

Goldfish are a different variety of fish all together. They're dumb and goofy and simply fun.

That says it all. No pretense, nothing other than the Dalmation of the fishie world.

**feed me feed me**

**feed me feed me**

**o look it's the shadow! FEED ME**

**if I wiggle and look cute, will I GET FED??**

that's about it, and it's cute.

I can't stand the bubbleyes or the really weird ones that can only look up. *shudder*

Orandas, ryukins, and shebunkins are cute. lionheads, well, a fish without a dorsal fin is just too strange  

[Sam]

I too agree they are ugly, but I think that's why I like them so much.  I like that they are relatively simple to keep and seem to last forever.

The one thing I don't understand is the super expensive fancy goldfish.  I guess I am not refined enough to tell the difference between the $39 jumbo Ryukin I can get at BAs and the $500 ones I've seen on the show breeder from Toronto's site.  

SAM