Lionchu

{{Short description|Goldfish variety}} {{Infobox goldfish breed | name = ''Lionchu'' | image = Goldfish Lionchu first orize winner.jpg | country = Thailand | type = Fantailed | aga = http://www.goldfishpages.com/Articles/What%20is%20a%20Lionchu.pdf | bas = }} The '''''Lionchu''''' or '''lionhead'''-'''''ranchu''''' ({{langx|th|สิงห์ลูกผสม}}) is a variety of goldfish that has resulted from crossbreeding lionheads and ranchus.<ref name="Ponzio">{{Cite web |url=http://www.goldfishpages.com/Articles/What%20is%20a%20Lionchu.pdf |title="What is a Lionchu?" by Peter Ponzio, an article from the Goldfish Pages Website (Goldfish Society of America), date retrieved: 26 May 2007 |access-date=26 May 2007 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725073933/http://www.goldfishpages.com/Articles/What%20is%20a%20Lionchu.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="GFSA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.goldfishpages.com/Articles/GFSA%20Ask%20the%20Judges,%20Ranchus.pdf |title="GFSA - Ask the Judges", an article about the Lionchu by Larry Christensen, Peter Ponzio, Scott Taylor, Tony Reynolds and John Parker, from the Goldfish Pages Website (Goldfish Society of America), date retrieved: 27 May 2007 |access-date=26 May 2007 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725074035/http://www.goldfishpages.com/Articles/GFSA%20Ask%20the%20Judges,%20Ranchus.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Description== The Western criteria for lionchus combine the traditional characteristic side-view profiles of the '''ranchu''' and the '''lionhead'''.<ref>[http://www.fish-tank-guide.com/goldfish/goldfishvarieties.html “The Diversity of Goldfish Varieties” an article from the Fish Tank Guide Website, a Lionchu description, date retrieved: 22 May 2007]</ref> The ranchu's deep body, broad and curved back, and tail placement has been merged with the large headgrowth of the lionhead. Lionchus do not have dorsal fins, a trait inherited from both parent breeds.<ref name="Ponzio"/><ref name="GFSA"/>

==Origins and evolution== Although at first, the lionchus were considered merely as mongrels,<ref name="GFSA"/> being hybrids of the lionheads and ranchus, the lionhead actually have an ancestor from Japan in the 1800s; it is then known as the '''shishigashira ranchu''' or '''lion-headed ranchu'''. The shishigashira ranchu is a ranchu-like goldfish with small amounts of headgrowth and some having small knobs and bumps on the back (a suggestion that the absence of the dorsal fin had not yet been stabilized at the time).<ref>"Fancy Goldfish: A Complete Guide to Care and Collecting" by Dr. Erik L. Johnson, D.V.M. and Richard E. Hess, Weatherhill, Shambala Publications, Inc., 2006. - {{ISBN|0-8348-0448-4}}</ref> The modern-day lionchu is considered to have originated from Thailand,<ref name="GFSA"/> and was popularized by a group of goldfish hobbyists in Singapore through [http://www.rafflesgold.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3790 RafflesGold.com], an internet-based goldfish forum site. The lionchu was officially recognized as a unique class of fancy goldfish during the [http://www.rafflesgold.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3634 "My Fancy Goldfish Competition 2006"], which was held in Singapore from May 26–28, 2006.

==References== <references/>

==Other sources== *[http://www.rafflesgold.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t1126.html Lionchu Photographs from the Raffles Gold Forum Website]

==See also== {{main|Goldfish}} *Lionhead *Ranchu *Oranda