Shubunkin goldfish – Carassius auratus
Species name: Carassius auratus
Common names: Shubunkin (meaning “red brocade”), Poor Mans Koi or Chu-wen-chin in China
Family: Cyprinidae
Order: Cypriniformes
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length: 12 in.
Minimum tank size: 25 gallons
Hardiness: Easy
Aggressiveness: May nip at fins. Will eat fish that can fit in it’s mouth.
Distribution: Goldfish are native to China and Japan. The Shubunkin goldfish have been developed from mutations in telescope eye goldfish (Demekins) back in 1900 in Japan.
Diet: Omnivore. In the wild, they feed on a wide range of food including plants, small crustaceans, insects, and detritus.
In captivity, they will accept most aquarium food including pellets, flakes, and live prey such as worms.
Additional information:
The Shubunkin, also known as the “Poor Mans Koi” or Chu-wen-chin in China is a type of single-tailed goldfish with calico colors: a combination of orange, white, black, red, and blue markings.
They are good swimmers, relatively hardy and adaptable, so they are an excellent for a novice fishkeeper.
In the wild, goldfish are native of Asia where they became popular during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907). At this time it was popular to keep carp in ponds. Some of these carp displayed yellowish orange colour rather than silver coloration. So they began to breed the yellowish orange variety instead of the silver variety and created what we call today the Common goldfish. The Shubunkin goldfish have been developed from mutations in telescope eye goldfish (Demekins) back in 1900 in Japan.
They are a lot like the common and comet goldfish in appearance but distinguishes themselves by having orange, brown, red, and yellow colors combined with black spots. The colors normally extend to the finnage. This color pattern is what’s also called calico colors. Calico means there are at less three colors present.
The ideal shubunkins should have lots of blue with patches or yellow, gray, black, brown, red and orange. The more blue color it has, the more valuable it is.
A few variants of the shubunkins goldfish can be found:
1- The London shubunkins is short (about 6 inch in length) and have a really short tail, usually around 25% of the body length.
2- The American shubunkins are slimmer than the London shubunkin and have a pointed and deeply forked tail with a longer finnage. Ideally, the tail should be at least as long as the body of the fish.
3- Finally, the Bristol shubunkins are slim with a very large moderately forked tail and well-developed finnage. The tail is also rounded at the end and look like the letter B.
All three variants have the calico colors, but each have a different tail configuration.
The Shubunkin goldfish is a coldwater fish so the tank does not have to be heated. It will do well with a water temperature of 65° – 78°F, a pH between 6.0 and 8.0 and a dH of 5 -19.
Here is a show winning Bristol Shubunkin goldfish at the 2006 Festival of Fishkeeping
I would say this one is an American shubunkin but I am not sure. If anyone know, thank you to let me know.
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Article written by www.aquariumslife.com
References: Wikipedia
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