Butterfly tail (goldfish)

The butterfly tail goldfish or jikin, as it is known in Japan, is believed to have been developed from the hardy wakin, a Japanese goldfish variety (also common in China and the rest of Asia) which is very similar to the river carp."Fancy Goldfish: A Complete Guide to Care and Collecting" by Dr. Erik L. Johnson, D.V.M. and Richard E. Hess, Weatherhill, Shambala Publications, Inc., 2006 - ISBN 0-8348-0448-4]

Description and production

Butterfly tail is also called as star tailed.The butterfly tail is similar to the wakin except that, when viewed from behind, its double tail fin has a pronounced "X" shape. It has a characteristic long, cigar-shaped or torpedo-shaped body that is white, with red lips, fins and gill covers. The jikin may not be born with this coloration, instead this white pigmentation of the skin is occasionally artificially produced by removing the red scales when still young, and usually done at about three months old and by either plucking off any red scales on the body with the use of tweezers or by bleaching with oxalic acid. Jikins swim in a characteristically jerky manner but can grow up to 9 inches long. Older jikins tend to become stronger than young jikins.

The jikin, however, is a rare Japanese variety and is hardly ever available outside Japan. This fish originated from the area around the modern city of Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and thus designated as a Natural Treasure (Tennen Kinenbitsu) of that prefecture.

Etymology

Jikins are slender in shape just like the common goldfish but the tail is completely spil outward. The word jikin means "local goldfish" in Japanese. It is also referred to as peacock tail and as rokurin (six-scales) fish. The latter name, "rokurin" refers to the six-scales or "points" of the fish, namely the red-colored lips, dorsal, pectoral, ventral, anal and caudal fins.Body of the fish will be white and colour of the six-scales will vary from red to orange.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

#"An Interpet Guide to Fancy Goldfish" by Dr. Chris Andrews, Interpet Publishing, 2002. - ISBN 1-902389-64-6

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