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, literally "carp", or more specifically extra=, literally " carp", are colored varieties of carp ( Cyprinus sp.) that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor or .
Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of carp kept for ornamental purposes. There are many varieties of ornamental koi, originating from breeding that began in Niigata, Japan in the early 19th century. Japanese Ornamental Koi Carp: Origin, Variation and Genetics May 2015
Several varieties are recognized by Japanese breeders and owners, distinguished by coloration, patterning, and scalation. Some of the major colors are white, black, red, orange, yellow, blue, brown and cream, besides metallic shades like gold and silver-white ('platinum') scales. The most popular category of koi is the Gosanke, which is made up of the Kōhaku, Taishō Sanshoku and Shōwa Sanshoku varieties.
There are differences in the length distribution of carp excavated from Jomon and Yayoi sites, as estimated from the size of their pharyngeal teeth. Specifically, not only adult carp but also juvenile carp (less than 150 mm in length) have been found at the Yayoi site. This difference is thought to be because the Jomon only collected carp from lakes and rivers, while the Yayoi cultivated primitive carp along with the spread of rice paddies.
It was previously thought that all Japanese carp were introduced from China in prehistoric times. However, recent analysis of mitochondrial DNA revealed a significant evolutionary divergence (phylogenetic split) within common carp Cyprinus carpio between the native wild form found in Lake Biwa and the Eurasian wild form, along with domesticated varieties. This supports the idea of the ancient origin of the native Japanese form (Cyprinus sp.), as well as the East Asian ancient lineage of wild common carp (C. carpio), previously proposed on the basis of fossil data. However, it is unknown when the carp from the continent was introduced to Japan. In addition, a possible multiple origin of koi carp was indicated by the polyphyletic distribution of five mtDNA haplotypes of koi carp within the ‘Eurasian’ clade. Moreover, the oldest record of the introduction of non-native fish in Japan is that of goldfish from China (1502 or 1602), and there is no record of carp (including colored carp) until the introduction of the mirror carp, called Doitsugoi (German carp), in 1904.
Japan's oldest drug dictionary, Fukane Sukehito's Honzō Wamyō (本草和名, 918) mentions red carp (赤鯉), blue carp (青鯉), black carp (黒鯉), white carp (白鯉), and yellow carp (黄鯉) as Japanese names corresponding to the above Chinese names, suggesting that carp of these colors existed in China and Japan in those days. In addition, Hitomi Hitsudai's drug dictionary Honchō Shokkan (本朝食鑑, Japanese Medicine Encyclopedia, 1697) states that red, yellow, and white carp of the three colors were in Japan at that time.
However, it is believed that these single-colored carp were not a variety created by artificial selection, as is the case with today's koi, but rather a mutation-induced color change. In ancient times, carp was farmed primarily for food. Mutational color variation in carp is relatively common in nature, but is not suitable for development alongside farming for food in poor rural communities; color inheritance is unstable and selection to maintain color variation is costly. For example, in current-day farming of koi as ornamental fish, the percentage of superior colored fish to the number of spawn is less than 1%.
The Amur carp ( Cyprinus rubrofuscus) is a member of the cyprinid family species complex native to East Asia. Amur carp were previously identified as a subspecies of the common carp (as C. c. haematopterus), but recent authorities treat it as a separate species under the name C. rubrofuscus. Amur carp have been as a food fish at least as long ago as the fifth century BC in China.
During the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804 – 1830), people in the Nijūmuragō area bred red and white koi in addition to black koi, and crossed them to produce red and white colored koi. After that, they further crossed them and perfected them.
Around 1875, colored koi became popular and the number of breeders increased, and some expensive koi were produced, but Niigata Prefecture banned the aquaculture of ornamental koi because it was considered a speculative business, and the business suffered a major blow for a time. However, the ban was lifted soon after, thanks to the petition of the villagers. At that time, colored koi included Kōhaku, Asagi, Ki Utsuri, etc. From this original handful of koi varieties, all other Nishikigoi varieties were bred, with the exception of the Ogon variety (single-colored, metallic koi), which was developed relatively recently.
Koi breeding flourished in the Nijūmuragō area for two reasons: 1) the custom of raising koi in fallow fields for emergency food during the winter, and 2) the existence of many inden (隠田), or hidden rice fields in the mountains, unknown to the lord, which allowed the farmers to avoid taxes and become relatively wealthy. Breeding of koi was promoted as a hobby of farmers who could afford it, and high-quality individuals came to be bought and sold.
The name Nishikigoi (brocaded carp) did not exist until the 1910s. Before that time, Nishikigoi were called Madaragoi (斑鯉, ), Kawarigoi (変鯉, ), Irogoi (色鯉, ), Moyōgoi (模様鯉, ), and so on.
A geographical book on Suruga Province (present-day Shizuoka Prefecture), Abe Masanobu's Sunkoku Zasshi (1843), mentions that in addition to Asagi, purple, red, and white carp, there are "spotted carp (also known as Bekko carp)." This probably refers to two- or three-colored carp caused by mutation, and is a valuable record of Nishikigoi of the Edo period (1603 – 1868).
In 1900, there was a three-colored carp in Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, and the price was over 1,000 yen per fish, which was a high price for that time. The three-colored carp had a red belly and asagi (light blue) back with black spots, and is thought to have been a mutation similar to today's Asagi koi.
The magazine "Shonen" (1910) introduced Nishikigoi under the name of Madaragoi (spotted carp) or Kawarigoi (variant carp), and said that even skilled fish breeders did not know how they could produce Nishikigoi, but only waited for them to be produced by chance. The price of Nishikigoi at a fish show in Fukagawa, Tokyo, was 100 to 150 yen per fish, which was "extremely expensive" at the time. Therefore, even at that time, mutant Nishikigoi were known to some fish breeders and hobbyists in Tokyo, but artificial breeds such as Nijūmuragō's Nishikigoi were still unknown to the general public.
In 1914, when the Tokyo Taishō Exposition was held, the "Koi Exhibit Association" was formed mainly by koi breeders in Higashiyama and Takezawa villages, and koi were exhibited. At the time, they were still called "colored carp" or "patterned carp," and they were described as "the first of their kind ever seen in the Tokyo area." And the koi received much attention, winning a silver medal. After the exposition closed, they presented eight koi to the Crown Prince (Emperor Showa). This exhibition triggered an expansion of sales channels, and the market value of koi soared.
In 1917, the Taishō Sanshoku (by Eizaburo Hoshino) was fixed as a breed. The name Nishikigoi is said to have been given by Kei Abe, who was the chief fisheries officer of the Niigata Prefectural Government in the Taisho era (1912–1926), after he admired the Taishō Sanshoku when he first saw it. In 1917, the fixation of Kōhaku (by Kunizo Hiroi), which had first been produced in the 1880s, was also assured.
Apart from the koi of Niigata Prefecture's Nijūmuragō area, there is a variety called Shūsui (秋翠), which was created by Tokyo-based goldfish breeder Kichigoro Akiyama in 1906 by crossing a female leather carp imported from Germany with a male Japanese Asagi or spotted carp. The leather carp is a low scaled variety bred in 1782 in Austria, and was sent to Japan from Munich, Germany in 1904, along with the mirror carp, which also has few scales. In Japan, these two varieties are called Doitsugoi (German carp), and Shūsui and its lineage are also called Doitsu or Doitsugoi in koi.
In 1927, Shōwa Sanshoku (by Shigekichi Hoshino) was fixed as a breed, and in 1939, koi were exhibited at the Japanese pavilion at the Golden Gate International Exposition held in San Francisco.
Colored ornamental carp were originally called Irokoi (色鯉) meaning colored carp, Hanakoi (花鯉) meaning floral carp, and Moyōkoi (模様鯉) meaning patterned carp. There are various theories as to how these words came to be disused, in favor of Nishikigoi (錦鯉), which is used today. One theory holds that, during World War II, the words Irokoi and Hanakoi (which can have sexual meanings) were changed to Nishikigoi because they were not suitable for the social situation of war. Another theory is that Nishikigoi, which was the original name for the popular Taishō Sanshoku variety, gradually became the term used for all ornamental koi. The History of Nishikigoi 錦鯉とその起源 Zen Nippon Airinkai
Philipp Franz von Siebold of the Netherlands, who stayed in Japan during the Edo period, reported in Fauna Japonica (1833–1850) that there were three species of carp in Japan: Cyprinus haematopterus, Cyprinus melanotus, and Cyprinus conirostris. This classification has not received much attention until recently, and it was thought that only one species of carp existed in Japan. However, recent analysis of mitochondrial DNA has revealed that there are at least two species of carp in Japan: native carp and carp from Eurasia. Currently, the Japanese native carp is assumed to be Cyprinus melanotus, and a new scientific name for it is being considered.
Cyprinus haematopterus is thought to refer to the Amur carp of Eurasian origin, traditionally called Yamatogoi (大和鯉, ) in Japan. Yamatogoi have been famous since the Edo period as farmed carp in Yamato Province (now Nara Prefecture). Other carp of the same type as Yamatogoi are known as Yodogoi (淀鯉, Yodo River carp) from Osaka Prefecture and Shinshūgoi (信州鯉, introduced Yodogoi) from Nagano Prefecture. These carp were famous for their delicious taste. Since the Meiji period, Yamatogoi have been released into lakes and rivers throughout Japan, causing genetic contamination with native carp and making research on the origin of the Japanese carp difficult. Koi is thought to be primarily of this Yamatogoi (Amur carp) lineage, but it also carries some genes of the native Japanese carp.
In the past, koi were commonly believed to have been bred from the common carp ( Cyprinus carpio). Extensive hybridization between different populations, coupled with widespread translocations, has muddled the historical zoogeography of the common carp and Cyprinus. Traditionally, Amur carp ( C. rubrofuscus) were considered a subspecies of the common carp, often under the scientific name C. carpio haematopterus. However, they differ in meristics from the common carp of Europe and Western Asia, leading recent authorities to recognize them as a separate species, C. rubrofuscus ( C. c. haematopterus being a junior synonym). Although one study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was unable to find a clear genetic structure matching the geographic populations (possibly because of translocation of carp from separate regions), others based on mtDNA, microsatellite DNA and genomic DNA found a clear separation between the European/West Asian population and the East Asian population, with koi belonging in the latter. Consequently, recent authorities have suggested that the ancestral species of the koi is C. rubrofuscus (syn. C. c. haematopterus) or at least an East Asian carp species instead of C. carpio.
New koi varieties are still being actively developed. Ghost koi developed in the 1980s have become very popular in the United Kingdom; they are a hybrid of wild carp and Ogon koi and are distinguished by their metallic scales. Butterfly koi (also known as longfin koi, or dragon carp), also developed in the 1980s, are notable for their long and flowing fins. They are hybrids of koi with Asian carp. Butterfly koi and ghost koi are considered by some to be not true nishikigoi.
The major named varieties include:
Some goldfish varieties, such as the common goldfish, comet goldfish, and shubunkin, have body shapes and coloration that are similar to koi, and can be difficult to tell apart from koi when immature. Goldfish and koi can interbreed; however, as they were developed from different species of carp, their offspring are sterile.
The bright colors of koi put them at a severe disadvantage against predators; a white-skinned Kōhaku is highly noticeable against the dark green of a pond. , , , , skunk, mink, , , and badgers are all capable of spotting out koi and eating them. A well-designed outdoor pond has areas too deep for herons to stand, overhangs high enough above the water that mammals cannot reach in, and shade trees overhead to block the view of aerial passers-by. It may prove necessary to string nets or wires above the surface. A pond usually includes a pump and a Koi pond system to keep the water clear.
Koi are an omnivorous fish. They eat a wide variety of foods, including peas, lettuce, and watermelon. Koi food is designed not only to be nutritionally balanced, but also to float so as to encourage them to come to the surface. When they are eating, koi can be checked for parasites and ulcers. Naturally, koi are bottom feeders with a mouth configuration adapted for that. Some koi have a tendency to eat mostly from the bottom, so food producers create a mixed sinking and floating combination food. Koi recognize the persons feeding them and gather around them at feeding times. They can be trained to take food from one's hand. In the winter, their digestive systems slow nearly to a halt, and they eat very little, perhaps no more than nibbles of algae from the bottom. Feeding is not recommended when the water temperature drops below . Care should be taken by hobbyists that proper oxygenation, pH stabilization, and off-gassing occur over the winter in small ponds. Their appetites do not come back until the water becomes warm in the spring.
One famous scarlet koi named "Hanako" was owned by several individuals, the last of whom was Komei Koshihara. In July 1974, a study of the growth rings of one of the koi's scales reported that Hanako was 226 years old. Some sources give an accepted age for the species at little more than 50 years.
Like most fish, koi reproduce through spawning in which a female lays a vast number of eggs and one or more males fertilize them. Nurturing the resulting offspring (referred to as "fry") is a tricky and tedious job, usually done only by professionals. Although a koi breeder may carefully select the parents they wish based on their desired characteristics, the resulting fry nonetheless exhibit a wide range of color and quality.
Koi produce thousands of offspring from a single spawning. However, unlike cattle, purebred dogs, or more relevantly, goldfish, the large majority of these offspring, even from the best champion-grade koi, are not acceptable as nishikigoi (they have no interesting colors) or may even be genetically defective. These unacceptable offspring are culled at various stages of development based on the breeder's expert eye and closely guarded trade techniques. Culled fry are usually destroyed or used as feeder fish (mostly used for feeding Asian arowana due to the belief that it will enhance its color), while older culls, within their first year between 3 and 6 inches long (also called tosai), are often sold as lower-grade, pond-quality koi.
The semi-randomized result of the koi's reproductive process has both advantages and disadvantages for the breeder. While it requires diligent oversight to narrow down the favorable result that the breeder wants, it also makes possible the development of new varieties of koi within relatively few generations.
In Japan, koi releases are sometimes held as an event for tourism purposes. However, as koi is artificial breed, this causes genetic pollution by breeding with native carps.
Koi greatly increase the turbidity of the water because they are constantly stirring up the substrate. This makes waterways unattractive, reduces the abundance of aquatic plants, and can render the water unsuitable for swimming or drinking, even by livestock. In some countries, koi have caused so much damage to waterways that vast amounts of money and effort have been spent trying to eradicate them, largely unsuccessfully. "Common Carp ( Cyprinus carpio) – FactSheet" . usgs.gov.
In many areas of North America, koi are introduced into the artificial "" and ponds on golf courses to keep water-borne insect larvae under control through predation.
In Chinese culture, the koi represents fame, Filial piety, and wealth. It is a feng shui favorite, symbolizing abundance as well as perseverance and strength, and has a mythical potential to transform into a dragon. Since the late 20th century, the keeping of koi in outdoor has become popular among the more affluent Chinese. are found in Chinese communities around the world, and the number of people who keep koi imported from Niigata, has been increasing. In addition, there are increasing numbers of Japanese koi bred in China that are sold domestically and exported to foreign countries.''
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The reason why wealthy Chinese started to buy a lot of Japanese "nishikigoi" 1/3 , Gendai Business. 29 March 2019.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The reason why wealthy Chinese started to buy a lot of Japanese "nishikigoi" 3/3'', Gendai Business. 29 March 2019.
Koi are also popular in many countries in the equatorial region, where outdoor water gardens are popular. In Sri Lanka, interior courtyards most often have one or several fish ponds dedicated to koi.
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