Celestial Goldfish

<body bgcolor="#CCCCFF" background="../../back4.jpg" text="#0000FF" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" leftmargin="0" rightmargin="0" topmargin="0" bottommargin="0" class="main"> <a name="top"></a><p align="center" class="headlink"><br>| <a href="../../index.htm" target="_top">Home</a> | <a href="../goldfish.htm" target="_top">Back to Goldfish</a> |<br> </p> <h2 align="center">CELESTIAL</h2> <p>The celestial is rare in UK, being a novelty fish here, but it is popular in China and USA; they are very hard work to breed to the standard. They need to be kept in tanks free of entanglements and without strong overhead lighting; given these conditions, they lead perfectly normal lives.</p> <p>Celestials first appeared around 1870. In Japan the celestial is called the demeranchu.</p> <h3><a name="std">THE STANDARD</a></h3> <p>The celestial standard is as follows:</p> <ul> <li>Depth of body to be approximately 50% of body length.</li> <li>Caudal fin to be divided and forked with slightly rounded well spread lobes held above the horizontal.</li> <li>Dorsal fin to be absent, all other fins to be paired and their extremities slightly rounded.</li> <li>Eyes to be protruding slightly outwards and looking upwards from surface of head.</li> <li>Minimum length of body to be 5.5 cm (2¼ inches).</li> </ul> <p>The fish should be bright and alert. The body should be medium length with smooth contours and no sign of a dorsal fin. The caudal fin should be well divided, forked and held above the horizontal. The eyes should be well matched, looking upwards and well developed.</p> <p>Metallic fish may be self-coloured (red, orange, yellow, blue, brown or black) or variegated (any combination of red, orange, yellow, blue, brown, black and white) in a pleasing pattern similar on each side. Quality fish will have high colour intensity and metallic shine extending into the fins.</p> <p>Calico fish should have a blue background with patches of violet, red, orange, yellow, brown and white, spotted with black. Quality fish should have a high intensity of colour evenly distributed over the body, with colour, especially black, extending into the fins.</p> <p>Ideal profiles are illustrated below:</p> <table cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0 border=0 align="center"> <tr> <td align=center valign=middle><img src="../aa_standards/celestial-standard-1.gif" width="330" height="240" border="0" alt="celestial standard, side view"></td> <td align=center valign=middle><img src="../aa_standards/celestial-standard-2.gif" width="330" height="200" border="0" alt="celestial standard, top view"></td> </tr> </table> <h3><a name="pho">THE FISH</a></h3> <h4>Adult celestial, variegated red/silver-white colouration</h4> <table width="0%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <th scope="col"><img src="celestial_2008-1.jpg" alt="celestial 2008" width="275" height="190" border="0"></th> <th scope="col"><img src="celestial_2008-2.jpg" alt="celestial 2008" width="275" height="190" border="0"></th> </tr> </table> <p>This is a recent good example of the type, with good body depth, although the tail lobes are somewhat long for the British standard. Shown at BAS 2008.</p> <h4>Adult celestial, red metallic, 2001</h4> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"> <tr> <td colspan="2" valign="middle" align="center"><img src="ce01-1.jpg" width="280" height="178" alt="celestial 2001" border="0"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="ce01-3.jpg" width="205" height="292" alt="celestial 2001" border="0"></td> <td><img src="ce01-2.jpg" width="205" height="292" alt="celestial 2001" border="0"></td> </tr> </table> <p>This fish was shown at BAS 2001 and has the typical long-lobed, Far Eastern tail.</p> <h4><a name="sb"></a>Adult celestial, red metallic, 2003 - selective breeding in action...</h4> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"> <tr> <td><img src="celestial7.jpg" width="250" height="170" border="0" alt="celestial 2003"></td> <td><img src="celestial8.jpg" width="250" height="170" border="0" alt="celestial 2003"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" align="center"><img src="celestial9.jpg" width="300" height="200" border="0" alt="celestial 2003"></td> </tr> </table> <p>This fish was shown in 2003 and illustrates selective breeding in action - it is from the same stock as the 2001 exhibit (above) and, over the two intervening years, the breeder has developed the shorter, wider tail lobes (fantail-type) of the standard and has improved (deepened) the red colouration.</p> <h4>Young celestials, self-coloured red metallic</h4> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"> <tr> <td><img src="celest2.jpg" width="250" height="170" alt="young Far-Eastern celestial" border="0"></td> <td><img src="celest3.jpg" width="250" height="170" alt="young Far-Eastern celestial" border="0"></td> </tr> </table> <p>The above two fish have the long, narrow bodies and long tail lobes of Far Eastern imports and were photographed in a pet shop.</p> <h4><a name="Chinese"></a>Chinese celestials</h4> <table width="0" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td><img src="celestial_2010-1.jpg" alt="Chinese silver celestials" width="275" height="180" border="0"></td> <td><img src="celestial_2010-2.jpg" alt="Chinese silver celestials" width="275" height="180" border="0"></td> </tr> </table> <p>Chinese silver celestials, the rear one with red finnage and gill covers, photographed in low light giving an unrealistic mauve colour cast, Hong Kong 2010.</p> <p align="center"><img src="celestials.jpg" alt="Chinese red-white celestials" width="400" height="250" border="0"></p> <p>Young metallic red-white variegated celestials and a red-black fish, together with two red bubble eyes.(There is a red cast to the photograph: the silver-white colouration appears pink). Photographed in Hong Kong, December 2003. </p> <p align="center">[<a href="../goldfish.htm" target="_top">Back</a>]    [<a href="#top">Top</a>]<br>© Bristol Aquarists' Society<br> </p> </body>