This past weekend I was admiring a solid white oranda @ lfs that was about 4" in size, however I noticed it had several missing scales on both sides of his body. What does this mean? Is it disease or trauma?

Inquiring minds want to know...

Could be quite a few things, Smilingfish. In a pet store, I would almost bet that there is a pleco in with the goldfish. Those are notorious known for attacking the goldfish's slime coat, and sometimes the fish loses some scales with it. Or the fish might have gone too close to the intake tube or any other sharp or edgy decor in the tank, and scraped his scales off that way. Last possibility would be some sort of parasite that causes the same thing.

All in all, my first thought would go towards the pleco or some sharp objects in the tank.

Yes, I agree perhaps it was a pleco. But if it was housed with another fish, maybe an aggressive one and they were abusing it.

If the scales were sticking up that indicates a disease but it does sould like some fish, pleco or algae eater was picking on it.

Thanks for the info. It was a pity to see such a beautiful fish injured. Right now he is in a tank with smaller goldfish so the injuries probably occurred elsewhere.
Will scales growback if the fish receives treatment?

If the fish is kept in good quality water and thusly manages to avoid any infections or fungus', it should regrow the scales very nicely. Sometimes the scales do not regrow in EXACTLY the same pattern - mostly scales line up in lines on a fish. Sometimes regrown scales do not line up perfectly, but sometimes they do.

A Pearlscales pearl scales do not always grow back in "pearled" fashion.

Other than that, there should be no problem.

I would not be particularly afraid of owning this fish if that is what you are interested in. It will be very important that the fish is NOT put into water that is less than perfect - giving it the best chance for "perfect" healing. No stress = healing.

If for some reason, infection does set in - as a mechanical, outer surface infection - it would be one of the easiest ones to treat and cure.

Thanks Daryl for your reply and you read between lines as I was considering adding this fish to my aquarium. Knowing that lost scales can grow back should aquarium conditions be perfect is good to know. Adding salt to my aquarium as indicated from my bottom sitting alot Oranda thread has certainly sparked her up however she does seem to enjoy "down" time in her corner of the tank through out the day. Although I think the white oranda is beautiful I am still pining for a black hooded orange oranda similar to my Little Richard-RIP .