Koi are extremely popular fish bred and cared for by hobbyists around the world. Koi is a Japanese word that means "carp" and covers the dull gray wild carp caught in rivers and also lakes for food, along with the brightly colored varieties. It is the vibrant koi fish that are bred for their appearance. Although the proper term for these "living jewels" is nishikigoi, most people, especially those in the United States, call them simply as koi.
A Very Koi Story
The carp originated from Central Europe and also Asia where it was merely a food fish. It was the Chinese who started to propagate selected species of carp until they developed the gold fish over a thousand years ago. The Chinese first introduced koi as food to Japan in 200 AD. Looking at the lovely color mutations, Japanese farmers in Niigata, a prefecture in Honshu, bred them for aesthetic purposes and produced several color designs. The first kind to be established is the kohaku, the red-and-white koi.
The Niigata koi was first exposed to the public in 1914 in the course of the annual exposition in Tokyo. The charming, colorful fish charmed the whole of Japan and some kept koi because they looked great for their water gardens. It did not take long before the entire world caught up on the hobby. These days, Niigata continues to be the home of the finest koi breeders though you can buy koi from most pet stores. Then again, you have to go to specialized dealers if you prefer the higher-quality fish. Prices of koi vary based on the very koi-like quality of the fish.
Koi Attributes
You can find koi with different colors and designs. The usual colors are white, black, red, yellow, blue and cream. Female koi are usually plump while the males are a lot more sleek with torpedo shapes. A matured koi can grow as much as 36 inches and weigh more than 17 pounds. The koi are hardy and tough, and can live for decades based on their genetics and living conditions. The oldest koi ever reported was "Hanako" that supposedly lived around 226 years.
The Koi are omnivores and eat almost almost everything including vegetables. It is very koi of the fish to forage at the bottom of the pond for food. Although koi fish are really shy and will dash away when disturbed, they often recognize the person frequently feeding your koi fish. It is ordinary to see koi gathering close to their keeper during feeding times with some eating straight from the hand.
Varieties of Koi
There are several types of koi that are recognized by the color, pattern and scales. There are a few hybrids like the Ghost koi and Butterfly koi that have also acquired popularity but are not regarded as true Nishikigoi. One of the prominent varieties of the true Nishikigoi include the following:
- Kohaku - white koi with large red marks on top
- Taisho Sanshoku - looks like the Kohaku but has more small black markings
- Showa Sanshoku - black koi having red and white marks
- Tancho - virtually any koi with a lone red patch on the head
- Asagi - is coloured light blue on top and red below
- Utsurimono - black with very koi marks of red, white or yellow
- Bekko - base color of red, white or even yellow with small black markings
- Goshiki - black koi accented with red, white, brown and also blue markings
- Shusui - doesn't have scales except for a single row of big mirror scales running along the dorsal area, from head to tail
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If you want to experience Mother Nature's beauty everyday right in your own backyard, you can do this by creating a koi garden. If there is already an existing pond in your property, why not add koi?
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