Black and white goldfish are referred to as “magpie-colored” in breeding circles, fish with telescope eyes as “Demekin,” and those with a simple double tail fin as “butterfly tail.” An Oranda, on the other hand, is a goldfish with a hood, in breeding terms. Accordingly, the cute pandas that we were finally able to import again are magpie-colored butterfly tails. But “Oranda Panda” sounds more catchy, don’t you think? There is a difference between the technical language of breeders and the sales designation. In the past, “Oranda Panda” were mainly supplied as Demekins. However, this hardly corresponds to Central European tastes anymore, which is why breeders in Asia now also breed animals with normally developed eyes for this market.
Oranda panda are generally not easy to breed because they are not homozygous. Goldfish have a huge genome, and several alleles are usually responsible for the expression of breed characteristics (veil fins, telescope eyes, hood, etc., but also color). Therefore, there is always a wide range within the same brood of a particular breed. When goldfish that look very uniform are available in stores, this is always due to careful selection and sorting and not to genetic factors. Basically, each animal is individually marked slightly differently, and there are also specimens that have almost no white markings and, conversely, those that have only a few black speckles on a white background.
We only have one regular supplier for these attractive animals, and even he cannot always meet demand.
For our customers: the animals have codes 817499 (3-4 cm) and 817500 (4-5 cm) on our stock list. Please note that we only supply to wholesalers. Only available in limited quantities.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
