KNOW YOUR ORANDA FISH I The Fish Life

The Oranda Goldfish is an egg-shaped variety of goldfish. This fish has a large, round body, shimmering scales, and a long flowing split caudal (tail) fin that fans out when it stops swimming. All of their fins are paired except the dorsal fin, and the tail fin is generally split.

Red Cap Oranda Goldfish (left) Lionhead Goldfish (right), Carassius auratus
Calico Oranda Goldfish
The Chinese have also developed a telescope eye variety of the Oranda Fancy Goldfish.

Orandas can have metallic or matte scales and are available in a wide variety of colors, including red, black, calico, chocolate, and red/white combinations. Additionally, a blue variety has recently been developed.

A highly popular and favorite variety is the Redcap Oranda, which is pictured above. The Redcap is totally white except for a cherry red hood, which looks just like a cap.

In Asia, though the common name Oranda is applied to these fish, a variety with the fleshy growth covering its entire head is known as the Tigerhead or Tiger Goldfish.

Red Cap Oranda Goldfish (left) Lionhead Goldfish (right), Carassius auratus
Tigerhead Oranda or Tiger Goldfish
Photo Courtesy Snehashis Sarkar
The average goldfish life span is 10 – 15 years, though living 20 years or more is not uncommon in well-maintained goldfish aquariums and ponds.

They will generally reach about 6 - 7 inches (5-18 cm), though they have been known to grow much larger in many aquarists' tanks. The largest known Oranda Goldfish is Bruce, bred in Hong Kong at the TungHoi Aquarium, where he is reported to have reached a whopping 15 inches (38 cm) in length.