What are koi

KOI or NISHIKIGOI are colored carps who find their origin in the mountains of Niigata. Black carps were bread to meet in the demand for food in the winter. When one of the farmers noticed a carp with brighter colors, breeding of nishikigoi started. After years and years of selective breeding we now have a lot of varieties. Fortunately, cause now there is a koi for everybody to enjoy. I still believe that the quote " beauty is in the eye of the beholder " is the most important thing about koikeeping. And that makes the hobby so interesting. I may have fish in my pond which I think are the world while they would never win a price. Otherwise I see champion koi that would not make me turn my head.

Down here I have sorted out some varieties and give a brief description on how to recognize them.

KOHAKU

A kohaku is a koi with a red and white patterns, patterns that are well known are a two-step, three-step, four-step or inazuma (lightning) pattern.

SANKE

A sanke has the white and red just like a kohaku but with an addition of black markings.

SHOWA

A showa has white and red markings against a black base. Sometimes you will here the terms classic showa and modern showa, classic showa have a rather equal part of each color, modern showa have more black and white.

TANCHO

A tancho is a complete white koi with a red round spot on the center of the head. The reason why this koi is very in demand is the fact that it represents the Japanese flag



TANCHO-SANKE

A tancho-sanke has a similar red spot on the head as a tancho but with a few black spots on the rest of the white body



TANCHO-SHOWA

A tancho-showa has a similar red spot on the head as a tancho but has a black base color in stead of a white



GOROMO

A goromo is a white koi with red patterns where a dark scale like pattern exists within the red spots. Goromo translated literally means dressed.



GOSHIKI

A goshiki is a koi with a pattern that equals a kohaku but the white is covered with a blue/grey net like pattern. Goshiki translated literally means 5 colors (red, white, black, blue and grey)



SHIRO-UTSURI

A shiro-utsuri is a black koi with a white pattern. Shiro means white

HI-UTSURI

A hi-utsuri is a black koi with a red pattern. Hi means red or fire



KI-UTSURI

A Ki-utsuri is a black koi with a yellow pattern. Ki means yellow



AKA-BEKKO

An Aka-Bekko is a red koi with a black stepping stone pattern down its back



SHIRO-BEKKO

An Shiro-Bekko is a white koi with a black stepping stone pattern down its back



PLATINUM (PURACHINA)

A Platinum Ogon is a brightly colored white metallic koi



YAMABUKI

A Yamabuki Ogon is a brightly colored yellow metallic koi



MATSUBA

A Matsuba Ogon is a brightly colored metallic koi with a black pineapple pattern



KUJAKU

A Kujaku is a metallic koi with a red, yellow, gold or orange kohaku pattern with over the whole body a net-like pattern



AKA MUJI

An Aka Muji is a very deep red single colored koi



KIGOI

A Kigoi is a yellow single colored koi



CHAGOI

A Chagoi is a koi which is closest to the original koi, It has a brownish color and can grow to great extend



OCHIBA-SHIGURE

A Ochiba is a koi which is also close to the original koi, It has a brown/yellow pattern on a grey body and can grow to great extend



KUMONRYU

A kumonryu is a doitsu koi that has a white body with and a black cloud like pattern



KIKUSUI

A Kikusui is a doitsu koi with a white body and a orange colored kohaku pattern



YAMATONISHIKI

A Yamatonishiki is a doitsu koi with the black and red markings of a sanke



SHUSUI

A Shusui is a white doitsu koi with a line of navy colored scales over their back and on their left and right side a red stretched pattern



ASAGI

An Asagi is one of the oldest varieties of koi. It has a navy colored net like pattern over the whole body with at the pectoral fins and stomach a deep red base.