It is greenish in color in the natural state, the golden-yellow color being found only in domesticated specimens, and retained by artificial selection.

These fishes are reared by the Chinese in small ponds, in basins or porcelain vessels, and kept for ornament. By careful selection, many strange varieties have been propagated.

They are now distributed over nearly all the civilized parts of the world, but in large ponds they readily revert to the color of the original stock.