The lionhead is a hooded variety of fancy

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the w ...

. This

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

is the precursor to the ranchu."GFSA - Ask the Judges", an article about the Lionchu by Larry Christensen, Peter Ponzio and Scott Taylor, from the Goldfish Pages Website (Goldfish Society of America), date retrieved: 27 May 2007
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Description

The tremendous hood or headgrowth and fat cheeks of lionheads give them a facial appearance similar to canine puppies."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. - The "wen" ( Chinese term for headgrowth) fully covers the head, cheeks and gill plates of the fish."What is a Lionchu?" by Peter Ponzio, an article from the Goldfish Pages Website (Goldfish Society of America), date retrieved: 26 May 2007
/ref> Furthermore, lionheads have short but deep bodies, and relatively straight or evenly arched backs without dorsal fins. The finnage, in general, is short. Breeding standards require that the lionhead's anal fins are paired, the double tail fin should not droop, and its upper edges should be held away from the body."An Interpet Guide to Fancy Goldfish" by Dr. Chris Andrews, Interpet Publishing, 2002. - The tail of a traditional lionhead can be fully separated, partially separated, or webbed. The tail should also meet the caudal peduncle (the area where the body joins the tail) in a fashion that is almost perpendicular to the body. The

caudal peduncle Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

is ideally broad, allowing the tail to open when the fish swims. The back of the proper lionhead is quite broad to support the placement of the

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

-like hood. Hood development may vary but is more pronounced in males. The hood normally takes a year to develop in young fry. Mature male lionheads periodically shed patches of their headgrowths. Lionheads can grow up to 6 inches (15 cm) in length (including finnage) and may have metallic, nacreous or

matte Matte may refer to: Art * paint with a non-glossy finish. See diffuse reflection. * a framing element surrounding a painting or watercolor within the outer frame Film * Matte (filmmaking), filmmaking and video production technology * Matte pai ...

scales. They are available in orange, red, white, red-and-white, blue, black, black-and-white, black-and-red, natural, and chocolate colorations. Lionheads can also be crossbred with Ranchus to create Lionchu offspring.

Origins

Lionheads were bred in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to depict the image of the mythical Chinese lion-dog (the ''shishi'', in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese legend). They were introduced to

from China during the 17th and 18th centuries. The

ese produced lionheads with more rounded back profiles, modified tails and diminished size of the headgrowth.

Description

Origins

References

See also