[1] The tremendous hood or headgrowth and fat cheeks of lionheads give them a facial appearance similar to canine puppies.

[2] The "wen" (Chinese term for headgrowth) fully covers the head, cheeks and gill plates of the fish.

[4] Lionheads can grow up to 6 inches (15 cm) in length (including finnage) and may have metallic, nacreous or matte scales.

Lionheads were bred in China to depict the image of the mythical Chinese lion-dog (the shishi, in Japanese legend).

The Japanese produced lionheads with more rounded back profiles, modified tails and diminished size of the headgrowth.