Characteristics of a True GM

[dave6238]

This article has been prepared to assist newbies who want to learn how to ID a Golden Monkey (GM). Most of the information comes with the courtesy of bro Bejita but I have also used some info from other sources as an add-on. As I considered myself still very much a newbie, I would like to apologise in advance if there is any error in this article. I hope that more experienced hobbyists and the shifus will come in to correct any mistakes I have made, and to share their knowledge on what constitutes a true GM.

1. Colour - The redness of a true GM is more intense than regular Zhen Zhu. The red colour is very dark like the colour of blood and seems to appear from beneath the skin and will not fade easily as the fish grows. In comparison, the red colour of most regular Zhen Zhu and Zhen Zhu Malau is much softer in look.

2. Colour Transition - The colour of a true GM will gradually or smoothly change from soft to deep colour. We call this process smooth gradation. Not all GMs have this characteristic but perfect or masterpiece GMs have it.

3. Pearl - The pearls of a true GM are wormy and very shiny, and cover the whole fish. Some of them may even cover the whole face and kok/hump. A lot of Zhen Zhu Malau also has this same characteristic nowadays, but not the regular Zhen Zhu.

4. Face - The face of a true GM is chubby-looking and resembles that of a monkey (from whom it derived its name). It is unlike a Kamfa whose face bears resemblance to a human baby. The chin of a true GM is strong and chubby while the chin of a Kamfa is weaker and smooth like a baby’s face. The chins of most regular Zhen Zhu and Zhen Zhu Malau have more wrinkles and the face tends to look like old person when the fish gets older.

5. Body - the body of a true GM is stronger, broader and more muscular than most regular Zhen Zhu and Zhen Zhu Malau, but it is not as broad as most Kamfa, especially the old school Kamfa.

6. Tail - The tail of a true GM is harder than the tail of most regular Zhen Zhu or Zhen Zhu Malau, but not as hard as Kamfa’s tail. Not all GM tail is fan-shape like that in a Kamfa, but they are not soft like Zhen Zhu and Zhen Zhu Malau.

7. Flowerline - The flowerline of the true GM is not neat and organized like the regular Zhen Zhu. Most of them are uneven and some GM may not even have any flowerline on their bodies.

8. Peduncle & Tail - The peduncle of a true GM is shorter, thicker and broader than the peduncle of most regular Zhen Zhu and Zhen Zhu Malau. That is why GM has a harder and stronger tail structure compared to regular Zhen Zhu and Zhen Zhu Malau.

9. Eyes - The eyes of a masterpiece or perfect GM are inset like those in a Kamfa and they are red in colour.

10. Finnages – The dorsal and anal fins of a true GM are closer to the caudal fin or tail and are pointed backward whereas those in regular Zhen Zhu are usually further away from the tail and point upwards (for dorsal fin) and downwards (for anal fin) – resulting in some people calling them “wong fei hong” fins.

Additional Notes:
The original GM was created by a Malaysian breeder called Mr Lam Seah in the town of Ipoh. It became an instant hit and took the LH world by storm, becoming the most coveted fish amongst LH hobbyists all over the world. However, with the death of the original mother fish, subsequent batches of fries were produced using other females, resulting in the fishes having different characteristics from the original GM. Since then, many breeders have tried and are still trying to reproduce the original GM by selective breeding. Some of them have managed to come up with fishes that are very similar to the true GM.

GM can be considered as a perfected Hua Jiau while Zhen Zhu Malau can be considered as a perfected Zhen Zhu. As such, there is still a distinction between GM and Zhen Zhu Malau even though both strains have some common visible characteristics. There are a lot of ways in which breeders tried to improve their Zhen Zhu strain to come close to true GM, but they are unable to achieve close likeness. At most, only some characteristics are the same eg. the pearl, face and may be fan tail. That is why the breeders called their perfected Zhen Zhu the Zhen Zhu Malau.