I have always thought that I have comet goldfish because that's what the label said on their tank at the LFS. But since I've long since stopped listening to the LFS, I would like to know the difference between these two varieties of goldfish. I do wonder also if a fish sold out of a feeder tank at a LFS might not be a hybrid - they seem so varied in shape.

commons have a short tail fin comets have long tail fins

yup, Shamu is right. but i also found out that my commons seems to have a wider body and seems to have more "girth" to them. My comets have a more slender, sleeker body. has anyone else notice this? i'll try and get a pic tomorrow

V.S.

I noticed that with most of my fish, too! But then one of my commons is pretty slender so yeah I bet hybridization could be an answer.

yeah...i wouldnt trust the LFS either...i bought a baby lionhead from pet$mart, and come to find out, he;s a baby bubble eye ( thanks to RYUU for finding this out for me)......so i have a baby bubble eye for the price of a lionhead....go figure

Pet stores often label commons as comets. A good quality comet will have a slender body, long fins and a tail as long as it's body.

That explains why some of my commets have longer tails and are slender, and why other are a bit heavier built and their tails are a bit shorter, even when they have the same mommy.

The US standards for comet are as follows:

The Comet has a long slim body (up to 12 inches) and a high dorsal fin. The body depth of the fish should be approximately 3/8 the length of the body. The dorsal fin should be as high or higher than the depth of the body. The single caudal fin should be deeply forked, with long narrow loges that end in a point. The caudal fin should be as long or longer than the length of the dody. The pectoral and pelvic fins are paired , long, and end in a pointed fashion. The single anal fin should also be long and pointed at the end. The scalation of the comet is metallic, and acceptable colors are red, orane, or red and white.

The UK standards are nearly identical

The Common: The Common Goldfish is a long (up to 20 inches) carp-like fish. The body depth is approximately 1/4 to 3/8 the length of the body. The caudal fin is short (approximately 1/4 the length of the body), with rounded lobes and having moderate forking. The dorsal fin should be approximately 3/8 the depth of the body. The pectoral and pelvic fins are paired, short, and rounded. The single anal fin should match the pelvic and pectoral fins in appearance. The comon goldfish is a metallic scaled fish and occurs in bright red-orange, red and white color patterns.

The UK standards are nearly identical.

Daryl

Do you ever see any comets that are up to standard?

It has been 20+ years since I've seen a standard comet in a pet store in my area. Now the pet stores around here are selling common gold fish (with no extra fin or tail length) and calling them comets. It's like commons and comets are both comets and the pet stores no longer no the differents.

Since the common and the comet are sold for "feeder fish" here, they are a mixed bunch. Generally, they are raised to bring the largest "meat" to the table as possible in the smallest volume of water, the shortest time and the least production cost (water, food, heat, work). They do not specifically care what breed is used - it is all about numbers.

I think this is the main reason that what you are seeing in the "feeder tank" are mixes. No parents are selected - they are just allowed to breed and then are sold and the small fish raised to saleable size.

I HAVE seen Commons and Comets at shows. They are few and far between, but the ones that are there are really quite beautiful fish. As I reported in a thread not too long ago, there was a grand champion at a show that was sooooo blood red and gorgeous that it beat out all the Ranchu, Oranda and Ryukin to win! IT was NOT from the feeder tank, though.

I regularly search for a good common or comet in the feeder tanks. I have been looking for over 1 1/2 years and have not found one yet.

I have 2 commons and 1 comet, I think my little Frodo meets standards pretty good, he's such a cute lil fishie . Maybe I should eneter him in a goldfish show someday. Cherry pie aint too bad either, although probably not show quality, I love him anyway, Snowflake wouldnt meet standards I dont think, his body and fins dont quite match the standards but he's adorabel too lol.

Well all my fish are commons and comet, but they are so mixed up...
I think they are beautiful though!

A 20-inch goldfish. Now that would be a sight!

How about yellow ones? I've read about them and even seen a picture, but they must be very rare.

I just stopped into the pet store on my lunch hour and took at peek at the feeder tank. Within the group there, there were commons, comets and many crosses. There actually were a couple of fairly good looking commons and one comet that looked pretty nice. BUT... the whole tank had ich.



I need more ich in my house like I need another hole in my head!!!!

Commons and Comets are sold as feeders here too. When I made the below statement.



I didn't mean the feeder goldfish. I was talking about the larger 4-8 inch commons that have their own labeled tank (not feeders). They call them comets.

I watch the feeder tanks for wakins and sometimes I find one. But most of those wakin feeders are sick and so far gone that I can't save them. I found a wakin feeder a week ago. He looks healthy so far and he's eating good. I think this ones going to live.

at Canadas Wonderland in Toronto Ontario, they have a bridge going over a river about 12 feet wide, absolutely PACKED with goldish!!i mean, the fish are all on top of eachother and half out of the water. They are easily 20 inches, some id dare to say more, and fat!!You can throw pellets down to them from the bridge for 1.00 lol. Biggest Commons ive EVER SEEN!!!i wish i had pics, ppl on this site would love it. hundreds of massive goldfish!!haha, anyways, cheers!

I spent about a month near Toronto last year, but I didn't make the trip to Canada's Wonderland to go on a roller-coaster . But I would definitely have gone to see the goldfish!

I fell really embarrassed as I thought my Joe was a comet because that is what he looked like in all the lfs's that I went to. Turns out he's not, he's a common goldfish. I don't enjoy him any less, but I did do some bragging since I won him a carnival. My face is red!