C E L E S T I A L
Origin - China
Difficulty - Advanced
Availability - Uncommon
Price - Moderate
Adult Size - 5 to 7 inches
Scales - Metallic or Nacreous (Calico)
History & Background
A juvinile Celestial. Note the black marks on it's fins...these are likely
Ammonia burns from bad water.
Also known as "Stargazers",
"Chotengan" and "Demeranchu", these are telescoping fish
with eyes that turn upwards, so that they are always looking at the sky even
though they swim forward. Celestials were first bred in the 1870s.
As fry they start out looking like other juvenile dorsalless
goldfish. As they get older, their eyes telecope out and turn upward. Because
they are so much more delecate, Celestials do not grow as large as other breeds
of goldfish, and do not tend to live as long.
Special Care
These are probably the most delecate breed
of all the exotic goldfish. Celestials cannot see well at all (their eyes
cannot rotate, and are both pointing the same direction all the time), and
so cannot compete for food with anything other than Bubble Eyes or other Celestials.
In addition, they have the same vulnerability to sharp objects that telescopes
and Bubble Eyes have.
It has taken a lot of inbreeding to produce Celestials, so they are not as hardy as other breeds. They should be kept in warmer environments, 55 degrees fahrenheit or higher. Back to Top
Ideal Characteristics
The body should be an elongated egg shape,
with a depth equal to 1/2 to 1/3 the length of the body. A short body is preferred.
Back should be a smooth arch with no bumps or spikes.
The eyes should be level with each other, uniform size and shape, pointing straight up from the surface of the head (and not forward or at each other). Bigger eyes are preferred.
Celestials should have no dorsal fin (though versions with dorsal fins exist...these are considered sport varieties). Their caudal fins should be similar to a fringetail, 1/2 the length of the body or more (up to the full length of the body).
There are no ideal colors. Most are orange or mottled orange and white, with the occasional white, red, black or Calico. As with other fancy goldfish, saturation in the fins is desirable. In Celestials, colored eye sockets are also very desired (they are transparent/silver by default). Back to Top
Known Variants
Two Google-Eye Celestials
Google Eyes are a variant
where the eyes are so upturned that they seem to face each other. Many people
do not consider these a valid variant, but merely subpar Celestials.
Back to Top
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