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The ranchu is similar to the lionhead but has a much more curved posterior dorsal contour, making an acute angle of join (less than 90 degrees) with the upper lobe of the tail fin at the caudal peduncle, whereas in the lionhead the dorsal contour is flatter and the angle of join is obtuse (more than 90 degrees); also, the ranchu tail is splayed sideways with the lower lobes sometimes lying almost horizontal, whereas the lionhead tail is like that of the fantail. Calico ranchus seem to be favoured over self-coloured fish, whereas more metallic (particularly red) lionheads are seen than calico. The ranchu was developed in China and imported and further developed in Japan.
Ranchu are also known in the Far East as buffalo-heads. Calico ranchu are known as edonishiki in Japan.
There is as yet no British standard for the ranchu; any viewer knowing of a standard with line drawings is invited to contact the Website Author.
This picture was taken in Hong Kong in December 2000; large, red-and-white variegated and self-coloured red fish are shown.
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These fish were shown at BAS 2002; all are red-white variegated, the fish on the right having a yellow head.
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These fish were photographed in Hong Kong in December 2000 (left) and at BAS 2000 (right).