Calico Fantail Goldfish
Carassius auratus
About this strain
The Calico Fantail is the nacreous-scaled, multicolor expression of the standard Fantail — the same egg-shaped body and divided double tail, but with the matte, non-reflective nacreous scales that carry blue, violet, red, orange, black, and white in the irregular mosaic typical of calico coloration. Blue ground coverage is the quality benchmark, as in all calico goldfish. The nacreous scaling means these fish don't have the flash of metallic Fantails, but in good light the coloring is rich and complex. Hardy, beginner-friendly, and widely available.
Origin
Developed through introduction of the nacreous scale gene into Fantail breeding lines, a process that happened across multiple goldfish-producing countries in the 20th century. Not attributed to a single breeder or country.