Names of parts · Part-by-part · Back and tail line · Sources
Ranchu らんちゅう
The ranchu has no dorsal fin, a deep, broad body with an arched back, a thick tail stalk, a short spread tail and a wen (肉瘤) over the head. It is judged mainly from above, but the back line is checked from the side. This page translates the Japanese names of its parts and what the source says to look for.
Names of parts 各部の名称
Hover or tap a label, a part of the fish, or a table row to highlight it. Numbers follow the source book.
Part by part: what the source says
| English | 日本語 | Romaji | What to look for (from the source) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Eye width | 目幅 | mehaba | The gap between the left and right eyes. Wider is the better quality. On wide fish the eyes tend to sit angled upward at the corners of the hood (兜巾 tokin) near the snout; the narrower the gap, the more the eyes move round to the true side of the head, and once the wen develops in the first-year fish (当歳 tōsai) they can no longer be seen from above. On wide fish the eyes stay clearly visible from above even after the wen develops. |
| 2 Snout length | 目先 | mesaki | From the eyes to the tip of the mouth. Longer, and also broad in the eye-width direction, is good quality. In other words, it means the hood (兜巾) is solid as well. |
| 3 Head | 頭 | kashira | A wen (肉瘤 nikuryū) developing on the head is an important feature of the ranchu; with a poor wen a fish can hardly be called a ranchu. By shape there are the hood head (兜巾頭 tokin-gashira), lion head (獅子頭 shishi-gashira) and dragon head (龍頭 tatsu-gashira). A head that, on an adult seen from directly above, rises richly into a circle-to-square shape has the quality for wen development. If breeding stock loses the quality of a strongly raised head, getting it back is not simple. |
| 4 Gills / gill cover | 鰓 | era | A breathing organ, but its relationship to where the sedashi (back start, 21) begins is also a guide to judging the quality of the head and body. The further the start line of the back moves toward the snout, the further back the gills sit, and as a result the back becomes high and narrow. Overfeeding also puts flesh on the gills and spoils the fish’s elegance, so they serve as a feeding guide too. |
| 5 Gill-cover tip | 鰓下 | erashita | The rear (tail-side) tip of the gill-cover opening. When this point lines up with the start line of the sedashi, you can confirm the fish’s natural thickness. The closer the two are, the more you can tell that the fish keeps its natural thickness even when it is thin. |
| 6 Pectoral fins | 胸鰭 | munabire | Also called maebire (前ヒレ, “front fins”). In breeding stock, fins that are solid red on both sides (左右ベタ赤), or that keep plenty of red, are preferred. This is also an advantage for viewing at shows (品評会). |
| 7 Back width | 背幅 | sehaba | The breadth of the back. The quality of having no gill retreat seen from directly above, together with a well-developed head, makes the flat, broad back “that a cup could sit on” (コップが乗るような) that is the ranchu’s true back width, something tsukuri (つくり, rearing/conditioning) alone cannot make up for. [“tsukuri” gloss uncertain] |
| 8 Hips (rear back) | 腰 | koshi | The part from about where the back starts to go down to the tsutsu (10). A fish that keeps a continuous, low sedashi height and goes down in a smooth curve without awkwardness has good quality. The stopping height (留めの高さ) should ideally be about level with the eye: on the shallow side, but not too deep. Until you are used to it, look from the side. |
| 9 Belly | 腹 | hara | Has a soft quality that reflects small differences in feeding. Seen from directly above it should be well balanced left and right, full like a jujube (なつめ), with a good haradomari (a). Soft-bellied fish swell as soon as they are fed; overfed, they bulge wider than the head or the belly sags and the balance is lost, so adjust feeding while watching closely. In contrast, first-year show fish (当歳) whose eggplant-shaped body (茄子胴 nasu-dō) grows large will not look thick and will not amount to much unless they are fed well. Knowing how to judge quality matters so you can choose and raise fish for your own goal. |
| 10 Peduncle (“tube”) | 筒 | tsutsu | The part continuing from the back to the tail. Seen from above it is about as thick as the eye width. For breeding stock, one whose join with the ozara (18) is round and does not stick out in a (pointed) triangle is better. For show fish, feeding in the month after spawning is the key. Even unbalanced fish that are too long or too short have a good chance of being good breeding stock if a round tsutsu holds the back down (丸筒で背を抑えていれば) [meaning of this phrase uncertain], but they are not suited to shows. |
| 11 Tail attachment | 尾付け | otsuke | The boundary between the tail seat (尾（座）) where the tail fin attaches and the tsutsu. Its height, where the main rays (親骨 oyabone) attach, and their direction decide the tail shape. An important point for winning at shows. For breeding stock the head and body come first, so a good otsuke is a bonus; if you select too hard on tail shape you will later run out of breeding stock. |
| 12 Tail shape | 尾形 | ogata | The shape of the frontmost row of the tail, formed by the main rays (親骨), and closely tied to the otsuke. At shows, where looks are prized, good or bad tail shape strongly affects the score. Even from parents rich in head and body quality, getting a fish balanced all the way to the tail is not easy without many ponds. |
| 13 Tail core | 尾芯 | oshin | The core bone at the centre of the left and right tail. A core that leans to one side, stands too upright or lies too flat is listed; and with four-lobed tails (四つ尾 yotsuo), lobes that line up straight rather than staggered are rated highly. [sentence structure ambiguous: read as faults to avoid] For breeding stock, anything other than tsumami (つまみ) and sashi (差し), which are excluded from judging, is no problem. [tsumami / sashi not defined in the text] |
| 14 Tail tips | 尾先 | osaki | The tips of the tail. Fine points such as the suppleness of the tail tips and how they are lowered (下ろし方) affect light, nimble swimming. |
| 15 Eye to jaw | 目下 | meshita | The distance from the eye to under the jaw. A lion head (獅子頭) with the sides (側 gawa) developed in the width direction shows it at its best. |
| 16 Pelvic fins | 腹鰭 | harabire | Also called atobire (後ビレ, “rear fins”). In breeding stock, fins that are solid red on both sides, or that keep plenty of red, are preferred; also an advantage at shows. |
| 17 Anal fin | しり鰭 | shiribire | Also called kajihire (楫鰭, “rudder fin”). Fish with one or two are judged. Fish with none, or with one that sticks out from the tail fin, are not eligible for judging, so take care. Avoid using fish without an anal fin as breeding stock. |
| 18 Tail plate | 尾皿 | ozara | Scales on the underside of the otsuke. The wider and more firmly it supports the tail, the easier a good tail shape forms. Seen from the tail end, a flat, wide heart shape densely packed with fine, even-sized scales is superb. |
| 19 Back line | 背なり | senari | The line forming the back from behind the head to the root of the tail. It is important that it continues low from behind the head and is flat, without bumps or dips. |
| 20 Back descent | 背下がり | sesagari / sekudari | The part from where the koshi starts to go down to the root of the tail. The point is neither too deep nor too shallow. A descent where a horizontal line from the eye passes through about the centre of the otsuke is considered good (dashed line in the side view). The source refers to a photo on its left page that is not reproduced here. |
| 21 Back start | 背出し | sedashi | The boundary between head and back: the starting point of the back. |
| a Belly stop | 腹止まり | haradomari | Labelled on the top-view photo; no separate description in the text. Part 9 says a good haradomari is important. English name is a literal rendering of 腹 “belly” + 止まり “stop”. [English name uncertain] |
| b Lateral line | 側線 | sokusen | A sense organ that detects vibration, water pressure, temperature and so on. |
| c Vent | 肛門 | kōmon | Long and narrow in males, round in females. |
Back and tail line, at a glance
- Back line (背なり senari): low from behind the head, flat, no bumps or dips.
- Hips (腰 koshi): the back goes down in a smooth curve; the stopping height ideally about level with the eye.
- Back descent (背下がり sesagari): neither too deep nor too shallow; a horizontal line from the eye should pass through about the centre of the tail attachment.
- Peduncle (筒 tsutsu): seen from above, about as thick as the eye width.
- Head (頭 kashira): on an adult seen from directly above, rising fully in a circle-to-square shape.
Sources
- A Japanese ranchu book, title not visible: labelled top-view photo (parts 1–14, a), labelled oblique photo (parts 15–21) and the names-of-parts text for 1–21, a, b, c (pp. 23–25 visible).
- An English-language goldfish book, title not visible: “Side, top, and bottom view of an ideal Ranchu”, used for the proportions of the drawings.
Items marked [uncertain] could not be read or translated with confidence. Part 18 (ozara) is described in the text but not labelled on the photos; its place in the side view follows the text.