Which is your favourite?
As Pearlscale Goldfish enthusiasts we appreciate the breed's diversity, with four distinct and popular varieties that showcase divergences from the original classic Pearlscale. The differences provide opportunities for aquarists to have a personal preference within the breed, with some opting to care for the more extreme variants and some preferring the traditional traits. Currently we keep every variation but the Horyu Pearlscale, though we previously had two and anticipate welcoming more into our collection in the future.
Each type of Pearlscale requires the same high-quality care and treatment necessary for all Fancy Goldfish. In some instances the Classic Pearlscale and Hamanishiki variations may be deemed 'easier' to keep because their slimmer shape makes them better at swimming and less likely to get stuck in unusual places around the tank. Special consideration should be taken in relation to the telescope eye variations as the mutation diminishes their visual abilty, if possible these should be kept with other telescope eye goldfish to give equal chances when feeding.
We have created this table for comparison between the variations, with basic information on the physical appearance of each Pearlscale Goldfish variant.
Pearlscale Variety | Classic Pearlscale (Chinese) | Tiku / Mousehead / Ping Pong | Telescope Pearlscale / Dragon Ball | Hamanishiki / Pearlscale Oranda | Horyu / Dragon Eye Pearlscale Oranda |
Shape | Elongated oval. | Very round, almost spherical. | Very round, almost spherical | Round. | Round. |
Tail | Long (over 75% of body length), forked. | Short, shallow lobes. | Short, shallow lobes. | Long, rounded lobes. | Long, rounded lobes. |
Colour and Scale Type | Commonly red and white nacreous, can exhibit every natural colour. Rarely metallic and kirin. | Commonly red and white nacreous, can exhibit every natural colour. Rarely metallic and kirin. | Commonly red and white nacreous, often good black traits because of cross breeding. Can exhibit every natural colour. Unlikely to be metallic though more common than rare kirin. | Can exhibit every natural colour, often a range of calico colourations due to Oranda crossbreeding. Kirin, nacreous and metallic scale types all equally likely. Rare metallic yellow is also a possibility with this variant. | Only found as blue metallic, black and white calico and kirin, as well as red and white nacreous. |
Eye Variation | None (regular). | None (regular). | Telescope (large, round, protruding eyes). | None (regular). | Telescope (large, round, protruding eyes). |
Origin | China. | Malaysia. | Singapore. | China. | Japan. |
Rarity | Common, however increasing in rarity due to Tiku popularity. | Very common. | Rare. | Very rare. | Extremely rare. |
Other details | The first Pearlscale variety. | Distinguished by their unbelievably round shape with the length and width measuring the same. | A recent creation (2012) by Wee Yap (Goldfish Art Aquatics). | The smooth, round wen is exclusive to this Pearlscale variant. | Possesses the Hamanishiki head growth. The blue and black colourations are only bred in Japan. This is a very balanced fish despite the number of mutations. |
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Interestingly, for showing and competing, the standard Pearlscale (the specified aim) doesn’t fall into any of the variant categories. Rather, it looks like a combination of the ‘classic’ Pearlscale and the Tiku. The depth of the body must be approximately 75% of its length, which is neither elongated nor completely spherical. Tail length has no specification (medium length preferred), though it must be divided and forked.
Creating our own variation has been a long-standing dream at Ping Pong Pearlscales. We are experimenting with breeding for new shape and colour variants to produce both aesthetically pleasing and robust individuals, emphasising health and good physical condition in the process.
Which Pearlscale variations would you like to see in the future? Watch this space!
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