CULTIVATION OF MARINE ANIMALS IN JAPAN 705 



tion. The dorsal fin is either single or absent. The tail may remain 

 simple, as in ordinary fishes, but should best split open and spread 

 out horizontally, when it is therefore three-lobed (Fig. 3, a), but 

 quite as frequently it may be split in the median lines, when it is 

 four-lobed (Fig. 3, 6). The anal fin may also very often split open 

 and become paired. 1 



There are five well-established varieties of the goldfish in Japan, 

 and in addition one or two which have not become so common as 

 yet. I will go over these varieties briefly: 



(1) The "wakin" (literally Japanese goldfish). This has a shape 

 nearest the normal form of a fish. The body is slender and long, 

 closely resembling that of the common crucian carp. The tail may 

 be single, vertical, and normal, but should, to be a good form, split 

 open and become either three-lobed or four-lobed. This may, in 

 short, be characterized as the bright-colored variety of the common 

 Carassius auratus, with or without the modified tail. 



(2) The "ryukin" (literally "Loochoo" goldfish), also called the 

 "Nagasaki." The first name may possibly denote whence the 

 variety came originally. The body is strikingly shortened, - - this 

 being one of the points to which the variety was bred, - - and has 

 a rounded, bulged-out abdomen. The tail and all the fins are long and 

 flowing, the former being as long as or even longer than the body. 

 This, in my opinion, is the most beautiful breed. A "ryukin" two 

 or three years old, slowly swimming with its long, flowing, graceful 

 fins and tail, full of quiet dignity, I can liken to nothing so much 

 as to Japanese court ladies of olden times, dressed in long robes 

 and walking with quiet grace and dignity. 



(3) The "ranchu," also called "maruko" (literally, round fish), 

 "shishigashira" (literally, lion-headed), and sometimes "Corean 

 goldfish." This is distinguished by its rather broad head, its extremely 

 short, almost globular body, the short tail, and the absence of the 

 dorsal fin. Some individuals of this variety develop in the second 

 year, or at the latest in the third year, a number of peculiar wart- 

 like protuberances all over the head, making it look as if it had 

 a low coxcomb or some skin disease. Such fish are called the "shishi- 

 gashira," or "lion-headed." This variety is seen often swimming 

 upside down, a fact with which the absence of the dorsal fin probably 

 has something to do. 



(4) The " oranda-shishigashira " (literally, Dutch lion-headed). 

 The adjective Dutch is known to have nothing to do with the place 

 of origin of the fish, but was attached to the name to denote some- 

 thing novel. This variety was produced in Osaka in the forties of the 

 last century by crossing the "ryukin" with the "ranchu." There- 



1 For further details see S. Watase: On the Caudal and Anal Fins of Goldfishes, 

 Journal Science College, vol. I, p. 247, pi. xvin-xx. 



