CHAPTER THIRTEEN 



The Goldfish 



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Whether or not the goldfish was first introduced into Europe for the 

 amusement of that famed courtesan, Madame Pompadour, will probably 

 remain an open question. Certainly we owe nothing to that beauty for 

 the development of these wonderful fishes, but to the humble and patient 

 Orientals who must have spent hundreds of years of tireless effort in 

 selective breeding, which culminated in the marvelous specimens brought 

 to America by Admiral Ammon in 1874. These and later importations 

 formed the nucleus for a group of well-to-do enthusiasts, mostly in and 

 around Philadelphia, to use as breeding stock. With particularly favor- 

 able local conditions the development of breeding these fancy or toy 

 variations was rapid. Fine stock has for many years been sent to other 

 parts of the country, and in some instances it has flourished. 



There are two root-stocks from which the goldfishes of today have 

 originated. Both are members of the carp family. The European gold- 

 fish, Carassius carassius, has never been developed into any of the fancy 

 forms except by crossing with cultivated types of the Asiatic stock, 

 Carassius auratus. The Orientals, as stated, and principally those of 

 Korea, China and Japan, must be given credit for first establishing, by 

 selective breeding, the goldfish as an ornamental pet, as well as for the 

 incredible lengths to which they have gone in fixing fancy breeds. 



Although a common American goldfish has been described by at 

 least one writer, no such division properly exists. Those sometimes found 

 in American waters are invariably from escaped or liberated stock from 

 one of the two varieties mentioned, or from their hybrids. 



The normal color of fish of both root-stocks is of a silver-gray or 

 olivate hue, but with a strong natural tendency towards albinism, which 

 produces occasional specimens of a yellow or golden color. By selective 

 breeding these colors have become fairly well fixed, although in the 

 scaled varieties the color is still at first carp-like, turning to gold, white 

 or black, as a rule, in from three to eight months. Instances are quite 

 common where they live to an old age without ever turning. 



