We all have hobbies whether it is collecting teddy bears or having alive
animals. Well, for me, I enjoy having my babies, Comets.
Comets are Gold Fish, and just happen to be universally most popular amoungst
the fish varieties. Not only are they the least expensive, they are also used for home decoration or live food for predatory
pets such as larger fish and snakes.
Let's take a walk in the past in a Comet's life:
Hi, I am a Comet Gold Fish. There are many varieties of us such as the Lionhead,
Ranchu, Ryukin, Pearlscale, Bubble-Eye and so on. We all come in various shapes, sizes and colours. Some of us look really
fascinating and cute.
We originly are wild carp, however, the Chinese started to breed us so many
different kinds of mutations occurred. Chinese scientists noticed our differences in the domestic offspring we produced
and took steps to fix these strains. They have practiced this over a thousand years ago!
Eventually, the Chinese showed the Japanese their breeding techniques on
us in the 1500s, and since then my cousins, the koi, have been a mainstay in Japan.
We have been popular for over 500 years now between the Chinese and Japanese.
At first, in Japan, fishkeeping was only for the noblemen, while today almost everyone has at least one of our breeds!
In the late 1800s we finally made our way over to the free country. Yes,
you guessed it! It is the United States of America. Rear Admiral Daniel Ammen brought us to Washington D.C. in 1878 and we
were a great hit and became very popular. The rest became "fishtory."
