The Short and Fat of Fancy Goldfish

For the hobbyist who wants a truly decorative tank of goldfish, they're going to gravitate towards the varieties with the fancy fins. And for the most part, these are the short, fat bodied fish, once referred to a "nymphs", for their single caudal fin and cobby body. The name of course, came from the art world of the Middle Ages, where the human-like nymphs were pudgy, lush figures.

The fantail is a great favorite, and presents a charming, entrancing figure with its short, egg-shaped body, and a proudly carried fantail. While somewhat similar to a veiltail, it is the length of fins on the tail that defines one from the other. Being shorter, the fan of the tail is more easily carried, and has a distinct look of its own.

Veiltail goldfish were introduced to America, nearly a hundred years ago, through foundation fish imported from Japan. The calico variation was cultivated here by outcrossing with the globe eye goldfish. A veiltail carries an erect, and noticeably high dorsal fin, and trails behind it, a luxurious tail that is neither forked nor pointed. Their intense body color continues on into the fins, making them a highly desirable fish for display and show.

The Oranda is a goldfish that takes all the attributes of fantails and veiltails, and adds to them, a very unusual feature. While they have the same basic body structure, being quite wide in the abdomen, as well as short and chunky, the Oranda has a unique head. So fascinating is it, that for a long time it was one of the few goldfish favored by both North American and Far East hobbyists. The entire head of the fish has a raspberry-like bumpy appearance, as if it were wearing a hood. In America, the tail has evolved to be rounded and not-forked, where the Far East varieties have thin lobes on the tail, with a fork. Japanese varieties also separate the types of fish, with those having the complete raspberry "hood" being called tigerheads, while the name Oranda applies to those with just the berry growth on top of the head.

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