Leather Goldfish--No Scales/fins!

[arabpaso]

http://mirrorscalegoldfish.blogspot.com/

Here's a link to this person's blog with lots of pix. Says he had some Leather gf in the 1990's and now has found some more. Thinks they are "precious" because of their rarity. Apparently the fish can swim around ok and seem to be healthy but I don't know--looks weird!

Edited November 14, 2010 by Kristi

[number20121]

I don't like the lack of fins on some of them at all. I also wonder abot the summer heat that supposedly killed 3 of his 10 fish. Mine survived the summer without AC and the room temperature was up to 93 for several weeks.

[Rebecca Hampshire]

Mmmmm! I am not too sure about this! I find it a bit strange!

[Helen]

you know.. i don't know if it's just me.. but they don't look healthy at all!.. they look very unhappy and they look like they can do with more room, more light and a possible plant..

[Cynders]

Judging on how sick and injured they looked. Have you guys ever scaled a fish? That looks like what he's done. How he could do that to live animals disgusts me, and he should be ashamed of himself.

[number20121]

I doubt that' what he did, I read a lot of his blog. Still, I s don't like how they look.

[blackteles]

Bah.... too funky. Well, if they had bug eyes....nah, forget it.

Edited November 14, 2010 by blackteles

[CatfishSoup]

his tank looks dirty.. and lacks the whole aquarium feel. just seems like a glass box with water to me. as for the fish, they do look a bit unhealthy, color wise and taiil. maybe they are like.. nuke survivors or something. from something that wwent horribly wrong.. OH... the giant oil spill? potential right here.. it could have caused a birth defect?

[Sakura]

The fish look sickly, they're all clamping their fins. And the tank isn't even filled up all the way.

[koko]

Something is very off here.

[Wendy]

strange

[monkeyzero]

I know this is bad to say, but they look like the owner removed the scales.

When we buy fish from the Fijian Market nearby, the fish has its scales, and thats what it looks like after we remove the scale(we dont eat goldfish, its something with a P)

And they look very sickly. Im going to assume that something went wrong genetically.

But they look really sad and miserable.

[amynmitchell]

I'm not sure I see the appeal of a fish this altered. Though really goldfish are so mutated anyway, but this is taking it a bit too far for my taste.

[BenJoly]

I don't really like the look of them.... however good read and thanks for sharing

[kshepherd87]

Those poor fish look so unhealthy and unhappy

[monkeyzero]

Me being a crazy stalker like person(JK!) found this.

Idk if it has any significance but...

http://www.goldfishkeepers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1103

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

:( :( poor fish.

[bodoba]

The fact that the genetic deformities in this breed is so severe that some are even lacking fin development does attribute to the small numbers of it. Though, being born without scales would be like....humans born without skin? Or possibly without hair? I don't really know what the human side of that comparison would be but it is definitely possible that these are genetic bred for the sole purpose of scalelessness and that they plan on addressing the other deformities once they have established the scaleless line a little better.

They may look really sickly right now but in 15 yrs or so with dedicated breeders it's conceivable that the fins may return and they'll have a stable immune system.

That being said, it's not a breed of goldfish that would particularly attract me into a purchase. I tend to look more for viability stabilization than specific looks.

[Iheartfishies1172]

I don't like them. They look sad and miserable...

Not sure if it's the lack of fins, or if the conditions of the tank are sub-par.

[RanchuDressing]

Ugh. Icky-looking fish. I don't judge the breeders, though. If I really think about it, I can get myself angry about the mutations in fancy goldfish that lead to serious health problems or blindness (bubble eyes, telescopes, really round pearlscales, etc.). And those are all fish I really like, and varieties that I've kept, and I wouldn't want them to disappear. So I can't judge these folks for producing scaleless goldfish because they like the look. Most of what's been done to goldfish genetically is based solely on looks.

[yamilovemyfishies]

Wow those fish are freaky! How can they swim though?