The black coloration of the Black Moor Goldfish comes from an excess of melanic pigment deposited in the scales.
Most young Moor under 30 days old are quite bronze with normal eyes, but from five or six weeks of age the black pigment begins to appear in some early developers along with the telescopic eyes.
Because of their popularity and cheapness, many aquarists make the mistake of using Black Moors as a color contrast in an aquarium full of single tailed fish.
The best Black Moors have a
deep velvety blue-black coloration that covers the entire body, including the fins
and ventral area. If Black Moors show an
underlying bronziness, they are likely to change color later in life, usually
changing to orange or red. Many Red
Moors are just Black Moors that have changed color. Some experts advise against keeping Moors too warm, either when they are young or when they are adults as warmer water is one of the elements used to make metallic scaled goldfish change color sooner.
Those with an underlying white or silvery ventral (belly) area will probably remain black throughout their lives.
The British Goldfish Aquatic Societies' standards require Black Moors to be
veiltails (also called broad tails), but for commercial grade specimens the fins usually resemble
that of the Fantail.
Black Moor are a hardy variety, able to withstand low temperatures better than most of the fancy varieties. They are often kept with varieties that they can't compete with for food such as Comets. Because of their popularity and cheapness, many aquarists make the mistake of using Moors as a color contrast in an aquarium full of gold colored fish. Unless the other goldfish are also telescopic-eyed or Water Bubbles Eyes or Celestials, the Moor won't get enough food so will get weaker and weaker until eventually succumbing to disease or starving to death. This is why many Goldfish enthusiasts think Moors are a weaker variety that tend to get sick and die.
Being deep bodied, they will
suffer digestive
problems if fed low quality food with not enough vegetable matter and
live food included in the diet. This typically shows up as buoyancy problems. Gel foods are
recommended.
There is a belief that they are more susceptible
to flukes but this may be because the flukes are more easily seen against
the black coloration.
The eyes vary in size and shape with each fish, some resembling smooth cones when viewed from above, while others protrude less and appear to be made up of a series of concentric circles which gradually get smaller, and finally a rounded protuberant type which have the appearance of a small balloon attached to the side of the cheek.
There are several other metallic scaled varieties of goldfish such as Oranda and Lionheads that are being bred to exhibit black coloration, but none have the telescopic eyes of the Moor. The black coloration on these varieties seems just as unstable as in the Moor as they often change color when they get older.
A popular variation of the Moor is the Panda Moor that has a mainly white body with black coloration on the fins and eyes. This coloration doesn't last long as the fish is just going through a normal color change where the black slowly fades away and is replaced by the final color, usually white.
Country of Origin: China
Chinese Name: Dragon Eye
Japanese Name: Demekin
Maximum size (body length): 5 inches (125mm)
Body Type: Deep and rounded, depth to be more than half the body length
Caudal Fin: Paired, should be
a veil tail to follow the British Standard but usually forked in commercial grade fish and of varying lengths. The American Standard allows forking of the caudal fins but also recognizes the veil tail variety.
Dorsal Fin: Present
Anal Fin: Paired
Scale Group: Metallic scale group
Eyes: Telescopic
Distinguishing traits: Black coloration
Breeding: The telescopic eyes make it harder for the
male to find the female. Don’t clutter
the breeding container so the female can hide.
Use as many males as possible per female, the more the better as it also increases fertilization rates.
Male/female differences are less obvious outside the breeding season because of the short round body shape. Often the female will have a slimmer body shape than the male giving the impression she is a he.
The white tubercles that appear on the male’s operculum (gill plates) and leading edges of the pectoral fins in the breeding season are easily seen against the black coloration.
Special requirements: Not to be kept with normal eyed goldfish.
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