GOLDFISH BREEDS 



with the large spheroidal projecting eyes, having very small irides, turned 

 upward over the head, so that the gaze of the fish is always directed to the 

 surface. Its eyesight is very defective. The dorsel fin has been entirely 

 ehminated, as the scales are evenly imbricated over the back and sides. 

 The body is egg-shaped, very tapering at the tail. The fins are broad 

 and pendant, and the tail is carried at a slight downward angle and very 

 widely spread to maintain the balance of the fish. Its movements are 

 slow and languid. Due to its fixed upward gaze, the fish has acquired the 

 habit of carrying its body at an angle, with the snout and eyes usually the 

 highest points of the plane. European authorities depict this fish as 



"dolphin-tailed," and 

 without anal fins. 

 These would not be as 

 highly prized by Amer- 

 ican fanciers. 



It is stated that this 

 fish is bred in jars to 

 which the light is ad- 

 mitted through a slit in 

 the lid or cover, thus" 

 inducing the fry to 

 gaze upward for both 

 light and food. It is 

 considered to be sacred 



FIG. 19— Chinese Celestial Telescope Goldfish ^"^ IS kept IH many 



Lateral view. Two-thirds life size qj thc Oriental tCm- 



ples, probably on account of its constant heavenward gaze. 



The Celestial Telescope is the most difficult of the imported gold- 

 fishes to rear or to keep alive in the aquarium, the author having no in- 

 formation of its successful . breeding in the United States for successive 

 generations and knows of but three authenticated instances of a long sur- 

 vival of the imported fish. 



THE CHINESE EGGFISH 



Carassius auratus, var. chinensis ovi/onms. Fig. 30 



Several recent German authorities mention the Chinese Eggfish, a 

 variety of the scaled goldfish which resembles the Ya-Tan-Yu or Duck- 

 egg of Cuvier and Valenciennes and of de Sauvigny. It is described as 

 having a perfect eggshaped body, very evenly convexed and rounded on 

 all sides, from the head to the base of the tail; with flat eyes like those of 

 the Fringetail, which very seldom incline to the telescopic. The dorsal 

 and anal fins are absent, the pectoral and ventral fins are normal and the 



61 



