What is a Calico Goldfish? – Hint: It is all about the scales

Goldfish would not have existed if it is not for their bright and variation of colors. Most of the goldfish breeds come in solid colors such as red, orange, yellow, blue, chocolate, white and black; or in bi-colored of red/white or black/white; or in tri-colored and calico. My favorite… the calico variety.

So what is a calico goldfish?

To me, a calico goldfish is like a dirty goldfish. Seriously, it looks as if you have taken a white goldfish with a tint of blue, and smeared it with some black dirt, colors and glitter, and the result is… OH SO PRETTY!

Well, of course that is not how a calico goldfish comes about. That would be pure fish abuse!!!

Calico goldfish got its dirty good looks from its scales.

Goldfish Scales

Scales are protective plates that are developed on top of the goldfish skin. The scales grow in an overlapping pattern like the shingles on a roof. Besides protecting what’s underneath (i.e. the skin), the scales also function as reflectors of the coloration on the dermis, which is a layer of the skin.

So different scale types cause different coloration variations on our goldfish.

There are 3 types of goldfish scales:

1. Metallic
2. Matt
3. Nacreous

1. Metallic Scales

Metallic scales are coated with guanine, which is a layer of pigment that refracts light. This layer of guanine is at the underside of the scale. This gives them a shiny metallic appearance. So basically any color pigment on the dermis will be enhanced into a shiny version of the color by this type of scales.

So red will be shown as shiny red, orange will be shown as shiny orange, no color pigment will be shown as shiny white or silver and yaddi-yadda… get the point?

Goldfish with metallic scales are easier to find. They are usually available in one solid color of red or yellow, or bi-colored of red/white. Black on these metallic scales usually is just temporary as the goldfish goes through color changes.

2. Matt Scales

You can think of matt scales as transparent or semi-transparent scales. Goldfish with matt scales look translucent or with flat coloration as the scales do not have any refractive function.

Young goldfish with this type of scales usually appear pink, not because they have the pink coloration but rather because the blood in their skin and tissues are shown through the transparent matt scales. As the goldfish grow, these scales get thicker and become less transparent.

Although goldfish with matt scales are available in some colors, these colors just appear flat and unattractive. So goldfish of this scales type are not so popular.

3. Nacreous Scales

We have arrived at the answer to the question “What is a calico goldfish?”. A calico goldfish is any goldfish breed that has this nacreous type of scales. So what are nacreous scales?

Nacreous or calico scales type is basically a hybrid of metallic, matt and a third scale type. Remember I mentioned that in metallic scales, the layer of the refractive pigment called guanine is at the underside of the scale?

Well, the third scale type here has the layer of guanine at the upper side of the scale, giving the clear scales a pearl-like shine.

Goldfish with nacreous scales have the most colors combinations of red, orange, blue, black, white, etc as compared to goldfish with metallic or matt scales. They often have a bluish white background with patches of red, orange, grey and black scattered around the body and fins. Unlike the ones with metallic scales, the black in calico goldfish is more stable and permanent.

The color variations and the different scales effects all over its body are what gave the calico goldfish that dirty good looks.

Summary

The goldfish world started more than a thousand years ago when the Chinese people saw the color potentials from breeding the dull Prussian Carps. The selective breeding of goldfish continues from there to give us the varieties of goldfish that we see today.

Coloration is definitely one of the important factors that goldfish enthusiasts consider, and calico goldfish is right up there for this. It has many colors with some parts shiny, some parts not and some parts pearl-like.

So what is a calico goldfish and why is it so colorful?

Well, the colors on a goldfish are very much shown through its scales. Different types of scales give a different kind of effects to a goldfish coloration. The 3 main scales types are metallic, matt and nacreous scales.

The nacreous scales type is the one that gives a goldfish splashes of different colorations all over the body and fins, and that is what makes a calico goldfish.

So now you know what is a calico goldfish and how it gets its dirty good looks. 🙂

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