I'm familiar with the London (common-type) and Bristol (heart-shaped tail-type)...but is there an official standard of a ''comet-type'' shubunkin? Or, are these less than ideal fish that doesn't quite fit into any standard other than a calico comet? I suppose what I'm asking is, is there a true ''breed'' that matches the description, or are they simply calico comets?

I have seen them called Japanese-American shubunkins, and calico comets - like you said.

Debbie

Here in the US it is rare to see a bristol or london shubbie. The American style shubunkin seems to be a bit longer bodied than the pond comet. Seems to have a longer maybe thcker tail? I don't have pond comets just the shubbies!

Picture below was actually taken of the koi, but it shows 2 of my shubunkins fairly nicely!

WOW those things are huge! : O

Allen, here is a pretty compact discription on how each variety of shubunkin is supposed to look like... ---> http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=11602

One thing that I might have forgotten in that article is that the standard American shubunkin should have a tail that is at least as long as the body, ideally. Of course, that is rather hard to find, and unless you are planning on showing your fish, doesn't matter really - what you love is all that matters.

I've got both shubbies and comets and I've never really noticed the difference. Now I'm going to have to go home and compare the two to see if there is a difference.

Here's a picture of my shubie - Dot - and her tail. This was taken around the first of the year. She's grown a bit since then, after being put in her 55 gallon!



Debbie

Oh, she is a beauty, Debbie! I especially love her crisp black markings against the clear white, and how the black goes into the fins as well.

What a beauty! I just love shubbies.

She's mostly white on her other side. Hubby wants to find another fish with a tail like hers, but I don't know how easy that'll be. He liked a Shubie at Wal * Mart the other day, but when I mentioned that its tail was short, he said "Oh, nevermind then". Personally, I was afraid that Dot would try to eat it. It was very tiny, and I think it would fit into her mouth.
He also said that he'd like a blue one, but I hear that those are very rare - and expensive if you should find one. He's still partly a "just a fish" person, so I doubt he'd want to spend much.

Debbie