Domestication of the goldfish

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This article covers the domestication of the goldfish . Domestication or domestication refers to the transformation of a wild animal into a domestic animal . Originally bred in China , goldfish are now common around the world.

Wild and semi-domesticated form

The first reports on the appearance of color mutations of the gable in the wild can be found in the Chinese encyclopedia Gujin tushu jicheng (Chin. 古今 圖書 集成; Eng. "Collection of panels and writings from ancient and modern times") from 1725. In volume 149 / Division 19 mentions a goldfish sighting during the reign of Emperor Pingwang (Chinese 姬 宜 臼 Ji Yijiu, temple name : 平王 Pingwang) (770–720 BC), during the Zhou dynasty in Shaanxi province .

In his 44-volume work Grass Roots and the Eye of a Net (1560–1590), the scholar Jiran Li described the appearance of the red pediment between 502 and 557. Later reports describe the appearance of the first color mutations of the silver gable in the Jin Dynasty (265–420) ) in the Xin Don Pond of the Xi Lin Temple. The sightings mentioned were made at a time when the silver gable was a popular food fish. As a semi-domesticated food fish, the silver gable was kept in breeding ponds and exclusively to feed the population. The trapped color mutations were subject to a food taboo and were released again according to the Buddhist principle. A further description of the domestication of the goldfish can be found under Governor Ting Yen-tsan of Zhejiang Province during the Northern Song Dynasty around (968–975 AD). Here goldfish were kept in a pond called "Pond for the Emancipation of Animals" near the city of Jiaxing . Catching and consuming the so-called "Chi" was strictly forbidden. Around the same time (around 1000 AD) monks kept goldfish in special ponds in the city of Hangzhou near the Liuhe Pagoda and in the mountains of Nanping . The Chinese poet Su Shunqing (Su Zimei, 1008-1048) provides information about the color variations of the time . He describes colors like: sky-wide different shades of red, pink of the plum blossom, flesh red of the crane hump. Other poets like Su Dongpo, known as Su Shi , also notice the play of colors in the fish from Hangzhou. However, no physical changes in the fish at this time have been reported.

Fully domesticated form

Emperor Zhao Gou - one of the first prominent goldfish lovers

The actual domestication of the goldfish took place during the southern Song Dynasty . Although the fish had previously been fed, they had continued to live in their natural environment. It was not until the emperor Zhao Gou ( temple name : Gāozōng) (1107–1187) had large stone ponds built in his palace Te Shou in the city of Hangzhou in order to keep the goldfish as a private pleasure. Due to the great popularity of the emperor, the goldfish soon became known in the circles of the nobility and high officials. Many followed the emperor and had artificial ponds built for their pleasure. Even the governor of Hangzhou had a private pond dug. The feudal lords of the time often employed people to look after the animals and slowly developed a desire for new forms of goldfish play. The goldfish farmer's profession emerged from this social development. The trend gained wider popularity and was no longer an occupation of the privileged. Above all, in addition to the familiar red and orange appearances, the number of color variants increased. It was followed by silver-white, black-and-white speckles and golden yellow.

The first multicolored goldfish, presumably calico, were mentioned in 1189. In the course of the next century more and more varieties developed, which were increasingly kept in special bowls and containers. With this, the population initiated the aquarium culture of the goldfish. A growing part of the population of the Yuan Dynasty was able to afford a small vessel for holding goldfish. From the Yuan Dynasty to the mid- Ming Dynasty, there are few reports of goldfish farming. What stands out, however, is the emergence of changes in the fins. A paired caudal fin was first mentioned in 1506. The domain administrator Ki fu tung chi of Emperor Zhengde reported at the time of the Ming Dynasty:

" [...] Year after year goldfish are bred here commercially. There are deep red specimens, the actual goldfish, as well as shiny and bright ones called silverfish, also snow-white ones with black spots and flesh-red ones with yellow spots called tortoiseshell fish. They are particularly valued Specimens in which the golden basic color has a silver or the silver basic color has a golden secondary color. Tire-like striped specimens are bred. The stripes either run around the body like hoops or run below the fins or above the tail ... The larger ones are used for further breeding put in ponds, the little ones come in large fish tubs or glass basins, where you can enjoy their lively goings-on from morning to evening [...] " .

Half a century later, in 1569, the goldfish farmer Zhang Qian De wrote the first book on goldfish farming entitled Spectrum of Vermilion Fish , a work with many descriptions of goldfish variations. There are pure color variations with spots (white, red and colored speckles), but also goldfish with three-lobed and four-lobed tails, as well as varieties with outwardly curved eyes, dragon fish and egg fish. Since then, the variety of shapes has not only extended from pure color mutations, but also to physiological changes.

literature

  • Franz Kuhn: The little goldfish pond . 1st edition. Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1935.
  • Penze B., Tölg I .: Goldfish and Kois . Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-8001-7215-1 .
  • Rudolf Piechocki: The goldfish . 6th edition. Neue Brehm Bücherei-Westarp, 1990, ISBN 3-7403-0244-5 .
  • Bernhard Teichfischer: Goldfish all over the world . 1st edition. Tetra Verlag, Berlin, 1994, ISBN 3-89745-095-X .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz Kuhn, Der kleine Goldfischteich , Leipzig 1935
  2. ↑ a b c d Bernhard Teichfischer: Goldfish all over the world . 1st edition. Tetra Verlag, Berlin, 1994, ISBN 3-897450-95-X , pp. 14-15
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Rudolf Piechocki: The goldfish . 6 edition. Neue Brehm Bücherei-Westarp, 1990, ISBN 3-7403-0244-5 , pp. 8-10
  4. ↑ Rudolf Piechocki: The goldfish . 6 edition. Neue Brehm Bücherei-Westarp, 1990, ISBN 3-7403-0244-5 , p. 10

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