^ 



THE 



A Q U A R I I M 



are from that work, the plates of which, 

 in some instances, are colored ones, 

 rendering photographic copying of them 

 a little diflficult. 



There are several varieties of goldfish 

 bred in this country, both major and 

 minor forms, which have been desig- 

 nated as "Japanese rarities;" but as a 

 matter of fact they are entirely unknown 

 to those people. Thus far, only teni 

 stable modifications or varieties of the 

 common goldfish have been produced in 

 Japan, and these are all known to their 

 trade. 



American breeders have bestowed 

 names upon these which are most cum- 

 bersome and unmeaning, while their 

 Japanese appellations are, in all cases, 

 very expressive. They are known as the 

 Wakin, which is the stock variety of 

 Japan; the Ryukin (see Fig. 2); the 

 Ranchu (lion-head), occasionally called 

 the Mamko; the Oranda shishigashira, 

 a name for the Dutch lion-head; the 

 Demekin, or the one with the protrud- 

 ing eyes; the Deme-ranchu — a ranchu 

 that has protruding eyes; the Watonai 

 (a new one) ; the Shukin or autumn bro- 

 cade goldfish; the Shubunkin or the va- 

 riegated vermilion goldfish, and the 

 Kinranshi or the brocaded goldfish. 

 Three or four of these are shown in my 

 illustrations to the present article; but 

 they only give us the form of the several 

 varieties and we miss their magnificent 

 color variations. These have all been 

 minutely described by Doctor Smith in 

 his work, and he also presents us with 

 a "family tree" of the pedigree of six of 

 the varieties, where their derivations 

 have been made out with great accuracy. 

 We have cjuite a literature upon this 

 phase of the subject alone — indeed, 

 there are a great many papers and 

 treatises on goldfish extant 



For many generations at Koriyama, 

 Japan, the goldfish breeders have prac- 

 ticed making designs on the backs of 

 certain varieties by the use of acid. It 

 renders the parts to which it is applied 

 practically white — that is, the body, for 

 it cannot be employed in the case of the 

 head or fins. I only mention this in that 

 it may be condemned. In all other 

 cases only natural methods have been 

 employed by the Japanese in any part 

 of the empire. 



My attention has been called to The 

 Technical World Magazine for Decem- 

 ber, 1913, page 517, where a brief de- 

 scription is given of how the "Japanese 

 adepts" graft additional tails upon cer- 

 tain varieties of so-called "bush-tailed 

 goldfish." This "art" is not mentioned 

 in Doctor Smith's work, and I believe I 

 am safe in saying that no such operation 

 is ever practiced by any goldfish breed- 

 ers, Japanese or American. To be sure 

 the "tail" or caudal fin in these artifici- 

 ally bred varieties of goldfish is perhaps 

 the structure most responsive to the 

 laws of selection, and some very marvel- 

 ous forms of it have been produced, as 

 may be seen in Fig. 1 of this article. 



Fic. 3. The ShuV)unkin or Speckled Goldfish. 



By the author after the colored plate of S MatMihara in 



Dr. Hugh M. Smith's work on "Japanese C.oldlish" 



A word now as to the coloration of the 

 goldfish shown in my figures. As to the 

 wonderful imported Ryukin, shown in 

 Fig. 2, the parts in black are brilliant 



