An oranda is a fancy goldfish characterized by a prominent raspberry-like hood encasing its head. The hood or headgrowth (also known as wen in Chinese) encases the whole head except for the eyes and mouth.
Due to the fleshy outgrowth on the upper half of its head and sides of its face, the oranda has become one of the most popular goldfish.It is described as wen by the aquarists. The oranda is a metallic or matte scaled goldfish that is similar in appearance to the veiltail. It has a large, long and deep body accompanied by a long quadruple tail. This four-lobed and contracted tail normally spreads out broadly when the oranda stops swimming. The back does not rise up to form a ryukin-like hump.
Orandas are available in a variety of colors, most often orange, red, red-and-white, red-and-black, black, blue, chocolate, bronze, white or silver, black-and-white (panda-colored), red-black-and-white (tricolor), and calico colors.
The headgrowth of young fry may take one to two years to develop. The oranda can reach 8 to 12 inches (20 to 31 centimeters) in length.
