Common Goldfish or Pool Comet?

[MrNitrite]

I thought the pool comets had the long tail. The high dollar "pool comet" I have has the short tail. And 5 out of 6 of the 13 cent feeders have the long tail. What is the difference between the two? Which is which??

[jsoong]

Comets are supposed to have a tail with a deep fork, at least 3/4 of the fish's body. The commons have shorter tail but without the fork, looking a bit like a "B". But in a pet store, you often find fish that are not up to breed standards ... so tails might be longer or shorter ...

As for feeders, those are rejects from the breeders. Those can be anything, mixed breeds, frys that did not bred true, etc. The long tails might be a lyre tailed throwback in a batch of shubunkins (London or Bristols should have short tails) & got rejected. Occasionally, you even find double tailed fancies that are rejected in the feeder tank. If you are really lucky, you might find a gem that had slip through to the feeder tank.

If you want to know what real fancy goldfish are supposed to look like, check out this: Bristol Aquarists' Society, Goldfish Varieties: fancy goldfish varieties, how to keep them, and how to breed them
This has the breed standards for goldfish shows.