Introduction The goldfish is a member of the Cyprinidae variety of freshwater fish of the order Cypriniformes. All goldfish belong to a single species, Carassius Auratus , and are members of the carp family (which also include Koi carp and the Crucian carp). The goldfish that we know today were first domesticated by the Chinese and have now been kept as pets for over a thousand years. After hundreds of years of selective breeding, goldfish now vary greatly in size, body shape, and fin configuration. They also come in a wide variety of colors, including white, yellow, orange, red, brown and black. This diversity is certainly part of their appeal to goldfish keepers. A tank of fancy goldfish can make an exotic and fascinating focus for any room, and the owners can also become very fond of their pet fish. Goldfish can become tame and will learn to recognize their owners and to understand that humans are not a threat to them. Today's goldfish have been bred selectively by Chinese, Japanese and European fish keepers for hundreds of years, and this has created some extraordinary goldfish varieties. Some of these are extremely weird and wonderful. "Fancy" goldfish varieties have very extreme characteristics, ranging from the slow-swimming black Moor goldfish, with their trailing fins and boggling eyes, to the hooded and egg-shaped Ranchu (known to the Japanese as the "King of Goldfish"). It is extraordinary to think that all modern goldfish are derived from the plain but hardy wild brown carp. Early Chinese fish keepers of the Sung Dynasty period (960 to 1279 A.D.) were the first selective goldfish breeders. They noticed that the little brown river carp sometimes produced mutated golden fish with brighter, shinier scales and unusual fin shapes. It was during this time that individual fish, or pairs of fish, were first kept as pets in decorative shallow bowls, and the breeding of fancy goldfish began. The "mutated" fish were the forerunners of all of today's goldfish. The Common Goldfish, for example, is only one genetic step removed from the ancestral carp. Excerpted from Mini Encyclopedia of Goldfish: Expert Practical Guidance on Keeping Goldfish Plus Detailed Profiles of All the Major Varieties by Julia Russell-Davies All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
