I’ve always been fascinated with the strange “fancy” gold fish that were always offered for sale at pet stores.
When I had a goldfish aquarium, I would always buy the strangest variety and then release it into a tank that included comets and “normal” goldfish. As a ten-year-old, I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know that the “wild-type” fish could swim faster than any of these fancy fish. I didn’t know that their speed made it easier for the wild-type fish to feed. I didn’t know that the wild-type fish would use this advantage to eat all the food before the fancy fish ever got turned around.
Most of my fancy fish didn’t last long.
But none had such a short lifespan as my bubble eye.
The bubble-eye, for those who don’t know, is a type of fancy goldfish. It has no dorsal fin and it is double-tailed. That means that its ability to move is already somewhat compromised, but it is even more compromised by its most obvious feature. These goldfish have fluid-filled sacks under their eyes.
These sacks slow the fish down quite a bit, and they also make it hard for the fish to turn around.
Now, I’m not saying they can’t swim well enough, and I’m not saying they aren’t maneuverable.
I’m saying that compared to the wild-type and the comets, they are very much at a disadvantage.
I saw one at a pet store, and I had to have it. I brought it home, and I acclimated it to my tank, and he was able to surve about three days before he floated to the top. He was just a small one– mabye three inches long, and his sacks weren’t very large. (Nothing like ones on this fish).
If I were going to get another one, I’d just keep bubble eyes separate from the other breeds of goldfish.
But I don’t think I could own something that bizarrely removed from the functional needs of its species. It is a freak that has been bred for our enjoyment. It has not been bred to be a normal goldfish.
And after seeing what has happened to so many purebred dogs, I don’t think I want to have any part in the goldfish fancy.
I think we need to come up with a rich back story on why these sacks are CRUCIAL and beneficial to the wild-type. Clearly an improvement. Clearly!
That’s the beauty of goldfish and pigeons and show cats.
You never have to come up with a story.
With dogs and horses, we have to.
All goldfish, from the common goldfish to the Suihogan or “Bubble Eye”, derive from a domesticated variant of the Gibel Carp, Carassius gibelio. In that respect, they are similar to dogs which derive from some domesticated variant of the wolf. There is no “wild-type” goldfish any more than there is a “wild-type” dog. They are both domesticated animals many generations removed from any wild ancestors.
Many of the fancy goldfish “varieties” (same as dog “breeds”) were developed in China hundreds of years ago – way before the Victorians began to standardize dog breeds. In fact, the standards for many of the fancy goldfish are mostly translations of ancient Chinese descriptions. In other words, for the most part, the goldfish fancy predates the dog fancy by many, many years, and in many respects reflects Asian cultural characteristics.
On the other hand, one of the more familiar varieties, the Comet, was actually first developed in the US in 1880. The red-and-white Sarasa Comet, which was derived later from the regular Comet, is also well-known. These are not very old varieties and they are not “natural” or “wild types” – any more than the fancy varieties are.
Many people, especially in the West, do prefer the Comets to the fancies. You often find them in goldfish ponds in the US. They can get up to a foot in length and some people will confuse them with small koi – which are, of course, an entirely different species.
Although they are known in China, Comets and Sarasa Comets are not as highly prized there as the fancy types.
Normal versus abnormal, when not based on science, often reflects cultural prejudices. What one culture may consider as highly desirable, another might consider bizarre. However, from the point of view of genetics rather than culture, a Comet goldfish is not any more “normal” than a Bubble-eye goldfish.
By the way, when properly cared for, goldfish have about the same average lifespan as dogs – about 10-20 years – depending on the variety. Not nearly as long as koi – which can commonly live for 30 years and in rare cases for over 100 years – but still much longer than most aquarium fish.
The wild type for a dog is Canis lupus. That’s why dogs are Canis lupus familiaris.
The goldfish is, as you said, a domesticated Crucian carp (although some think that the Prussian carp is the ancestor).
Both of these wild carp have been moved into the same species as the goldfish Carrassius auratus.
I’ve written about it here: https://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/selective-breeding-has-also-dramatically-changed-the-goldfish/
There is a wild-type for the gold fish.
The wild type for the dog is the wolf, although most likely not one of those big moose-hunting wolves.
One little tidbit I’ve read about is the production of Koi fish, and the amazing prices some of them fetch. If you buy into PeTA’s moral absolutism that a boy is a fish is a dog, etc., then you’d have to say that Koi production is a holocaust.
An amazing amount of culling for just the right fish, starting with tens of thousands… and given the inbreeding and numerous fish problems, an otherwise thousand-yen-fish can be rendered worthless over the discoloration of a single scale or an all-too-prevalent fatty lump.
Heh. I’ve never been able to keep fish alive, although I do admire Koi in art.