Goldfish
Amazing fact
Goldfish sense movement and vibrations in the water with sense organs along their sides.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
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Goldfish sense movement and vibrations in the water with sense organs along their sides.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Goldfish
- Scientific name
- Carassius auratus
- Japanese name
- キンギョ
- Group
- Freshwater animals
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Carassius
Goldfish are said to be fish that people developed by raising crucian carp.
Long ago in China, crucian carp that had turned red through a mutation were found, and goldfish are said to have begun when people raised them.
Newly hatched young are dark in color, and the dark color fades as they grow.
It lives in schools with others of its kind and eats many things, including insects, eggs, plants, and crustaceans.
How the Goldfish lives
They are typically active at dawn and dusk. They search widely among water plants and over sandy bottoms for food. They can find and remember underwater landmarks to orient themselves.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Total length: 15–45 cmLength: average 20 cm
- Weight
- 0.1–3 kg, average 2 kg
- Lifespan
- 20–30 years in the wild, 5–10 years in captivity
- Active
- At dawn and dusk
- Diet
- Insects, eggs, plants and crustaceans
- Range
- East Asia
Where the Goldfish has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- キンギョ
- 简体中文
- 鲫鱼
- 繁體中文
- 金魚
- 한국어
- 금붕어
- Español
- Pez dorado
- Français
- Poisson rouge
- Deutsch
- Goldfisch
- Português (Brasil)
- Peixinho-vermelho
- Italiano
- Carassio dorato
- हिन्दी
- सुनहरी मछली
- العربية
- سمك ذهبي
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Ikan mas hias
- Tiếng Việt
- Cá vàng
- Русский
- Золотая рыбка
- Türkçe
- Japon balığı
- ไทย
- ปลาทอง
- বাংলা
- গোল্ডফিশ
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 江戸川区 — 江戸川区と金魚の歴史Checked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Carassius auratusChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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