30 



GOLDFISH VARIETIES AND 



start to "develop eyes" at anywhere from two months to even two years, 

 it is impossible to tell whether or not they will become telescopes. The 

 usual development period, however, is from three to five months. Should 

 they pass ten months without turning, they may be safely called Japanese 

 fringetails. Many such fishes that have come from telescope stock are 

 used to breed to telescopes to produce telescopic young. This is usually 

 successful in the first generation, but it has a tendency to spoil the breed 

 by gradually reducing the size of the eyes. Telescope fishes of the present 

 time are, for the most part, considerably inferior in point of eyes com- 

 pared with the stock of fifteen years ago, due mainly to breeding too ex- 

 clusively for short bodies and long fins. Type characteristics in any kind 

 of breeding can. like liberty, only be maintained at the price of eternal 

 vigilance. 



^/-/^lliii|«,t>!--~ 



Fig. 16. Chinese Scaleless Telescope (Dorsal view) 



THE CHINESE SCALELESS TELESCOPE GOLDFISH 



As before stated, "scaleless" is somewhat of a misnomer, the fish 

 being transparently scaled, making the scales difficult to detect. We use 

 the word "scaleless" in its accepted popular sense. 



