There is also the sarasa comet, which is especially popular and is white with vibrant red patches. There are a number of color varieties, including red, yellow, orange, and white. They are quite popular as their beautiful tails really make them stand out. This also satisfies their preference for colder water.Ĭomets have a similar body shape to common goldfish, but have a long, flowing tail and fins. On top of that, they are active swimmers and, as a result, they do best in a pond of 100 gallons or more. While they generally reach a maximum of 10 inches in length, the world record is 19 inches. There are a few different color varieties, including red, orange, yellow, white, and any combination of these. They have the classic body shape, and have a short tail and fins. Everyone has probably owned, or at the very least seen, one at some point. Occasionally feeding some greens is also recommended.Īs their name suggests, these are the most common goldfish variety the standard, if you will. Diet: Flakes, pellets, and live or frozen foods.Their body shape has also remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of years and they share the slender, elongated body of their ancestor. It’ll come as no surprise that these fish have a single tail. Nevertheless, all varieties belong to the same species, Carassius auratus, and they are now exported all over the world as the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish make great pond additions and large goldfish ponds are still a common feature in many Asian countries where the fish was first bred.

Some of the larger, faster swimming varieties of goldfish need a lot of space and are better suited for life in a pond. The two can’t be kept together, as a result, as they will compete for food. They usually have shorter, stockier bodies and move slower than single-tailed varieties. Sometimes known as “fancy goldfish,” they have been specially bred to have all sorts of unusual traits. They mostly vary by their color and tail shape alone.ĭouble-tailed goldfish varieties are much more diverse. As a result, there are fewer different varieties as single-tailed ones have been left mostly untouched by selective breeding. Single-tailed goldfish varieties are the closest to their ancestor in appearance. Over time, this caused them to be diversified into the different varieties that we have today. But, as vibrant color mutations began to be seen, they were soon selectively bred for ornamental purposes.Īs goldfish grew in popularity, more and more traits were selected as desirable by different people and were bred into the fish. They were bred from the Prussian carp (also known as wild goldfish), which is a dull silver color, and they were first reared for food. Goldfish were first bred in China several hundred years ago.

Different kinds of telescope goldfish