Ya know I was thinking------- ( always a dangerous idea!) --------


If you look back on all the references and all the armchair theories of WHERE longfin carp came from, you begin to see two assumptions emerge;

a) that the appearance of longfin carp was a singular event

b) that longfins can be traced to that single source.


As regards a) We once had three theories that continue to haunt the myth surrounding longfin. The first is that some isolated couple breeding goldfish in the Pacific Northwest created longfins from goldfish and koi! Innocent enough, probably a real story and an honest extrapolation of a single event but hardly THE source for longfins as longfins are shipped in from all over the world. The second theory is that a single Japanese breeder using Indonesian longfins to bring size and vigor into his koi ( a varitaion of this is that the Japanese emperor ordered it and also that the nishikigoi breeding station came up with some hybrids from the emperor's Indonesian sources), created the longfin. Again, fact based but not THE source. We also have documented ( TFH publications) the importation of Blue Ridge domestic koi and goldfish producer as THE source of longfins in America-- again factual, close but no cigar. No cigar simply because the imports had to come from somewhere where there were more than just the few!

Well we've come a long way in this story and all should now know and accept that hypertrophy ( spontaneous mutation that causes organs or characteristics to become elongated) is common in fish family we are talking about.
Building on this spontaneous sport occurance, it is reasonable to accept that the strain of carp in Indonesia that showed hypertrophy ( long fins) was common and established by the 1980s. There is no doubt that the Japanese got an indonesian strain of longfin carp from Indonesia. And it may be that Blue Ridge's wholesale tropical fish exporter had indonsian longfin carp as well as the Chinese tropical fish trade has been well established since 1960s and used poorer southern countries for sources and grow out. But certainly, there is more than one story regarding longfin carp.
Indonesia is blessed with lots of water! And feral as well as domesticated carp live in captive and wild conditions. Indeed there are natural sub species of common carp throughout south east Asian and lots of trading for centuries to further mess up a nice and neat separation between wild, feral and true domestic strains.
And unlike the unique and one in a million chance of other countries producing nishikigoi ( a very complex yet consentrated mutation gene pool) , simple hypertrophy is not hard to produce in any country of the world. And also in the wild especially amongst feral ( once domestic) strains that already have this gene concentrated. Catching them then with other native tropical species is certainly possible.
Because 'longfin carp' come in so many distinct looks and shapes-- it is very likely that longfin carp are a complex of types and from multiple sources. This does not mean however that there are not prototype strains common in ornamental distribution chains.
I personally liked the first imports to Blue Ridge. While the Japanese described the carp longfins into Japan as large brown/grey ugly food shaped bodies of great height and vigor and with long flowing fins, the finglerings of Blue ridge were long and with the long whiskers that made the fish look very exotic- they also had large striking eyes with hypertrophy appointments at the nostrils-- true dragon look.
Finally the exporters of Thailand and Hong kong send over a longfin with a very short and globe shaped body ( a lot like a goldfish) and with barbels but rather short barbels for a longfin.
In all these cases, the most stunning examples are the all black, all silver, all yellow and kawari type longfin carp of the original Indonesia import look. A unique strain that really deserves the name Dragon carp. What a shame that we tried to make them look like Nishikigoi with long fins--a real left turn down a dead end. how great would it be if someone had the vision of the longfin carp as the dragon carp-- a long sleek kawari with long flowing barbels ( all four as a standard) and long flowing fins that made teh fish look like the chinese dragons of folklore. Now THAT would be something!! In black, blue, red, silver and brown and grey, yellow and grey and black and white.. very cool! JR