Description
Due to the fleshy outgrowth on the upper half of its head and sides of its face, the oranda has become one of the most popular goldfish.It is described as a wen by the aquarists. The oranda is a metallic or matte scaled goldfish that is similar in appearance to the veiltail. It has a large, long and deep body accompanied by a long quadruple tail. This four-lobed and contracted tail normally spreads out broadly when the oranda stops swimming. The back does not rise up to form a ryukin-like hump.
Orandas are available in a variety of colors, most often orange, red, red-and-white, red-and-black, black, blue, chocolate, bronze, white or silver, black-and-white (panda-colored), red-black-and-white (tricolor), and calico colors.
The headgrowth of young fry may take one to two years to develop. The oranda can reach 8 to 12 inches (20 to 31 centimeters) in length. specimen from China, named "Bruce" (after late actor and martial artist Bruce Lee), has attained 15 inches in length. Sometimes the wen grows enormously covering its eye. Due to this the eye sight is either limited or the fish has no vision. These fishes should not be destroyed because they still manage to survive, finding food and enjoying the company of other fishes. Special care should be given to the wen because it is prone to bacterial infections. The Oranda can tolerate temperatures from 65-80+°F.More recently blue scale oranda have been developed but these fishes are very rare. Oranda goldfish are especially sensitive to cold temperatures, more so than other goldfish.
Variants
- The azuma nishiki is an attractive nacreous-colored form of the oranda.
- The red-cap oranda has a silver body with a prominent red headgrowth on the forehead.
- Chinese breeders have developed telescope eyed orandas, a cross-breeding of the telescope eye and oranda goldfishes.
- The hana fusa or white pompom oranda is an elegant pompom with a dorsal fin.
- The nagate oranda is a long body oranda developed in Shikoku, south west area of Japan.
Special care
Orandas are sensitive to low water temperatures and susceptible to the attention of other active goldfish.
