Universally Popular: the Goldfish

THE goldfish is a fish much like a carp and native to the rivers and streams of China. In the wild state, its colour is actually a dull brown. In many species, a form of albinism is known wherein all the colour pigments are missing, except the reds. Some 2000 years ago, the Chinese found that they were easy to keep in tanks and made popular pets.

Centuries of selective breeding produced many ornamental forms of goldfish. In Chinese paintings they appear as motifs in pottery, paintings and jade and ivory carvings. When European merchants visited China in the 16th and 17th centuries, they took back some goldfish with them. The fish became the rage in aristocratic circles. The Duchess of Portland once presented a distinguished visitor from Sweden with a hundred live goldfish. They are also mentioned by the 17th century's most famous diarist, Samuel Pepys.

The goldfish is now the most widely cultivated of all fish species. When goldfish are released into streams and rivers, they usually revert to their native colour — dull brown.

Tish, listed in the Guinness Book of Records (1998) as the world's oldest known captive goldfish, died in August 1999.

The fish which was won by 7-year-old Peter Hand at a fair in England in 1956 was at least 43 years old at the time of its death. 3275 / © 2017 Amrita Bharati, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan