Nomenclature for the beginner (and not so beginner!)

We have talks a lot about koi, koi varieties, variations and genetics ( including where Indonesian long fin ‘dragon’ carp fit in). And I still get the sneaking suspicion that USA judges and ponders are still not ‘solid’ in the demarcation lines?

So let’s try this----

Pond fish—any fish that can live in an outdoor pond. They might be any temperate water fish ( or warm water fish in Florida such as Africans). These fish belong to closely related families—common goldfish, fancy goldfish, Shubunkins, comets, mosquito fish ( hardy tropical), native temperate water fish like ‘sunny’s ( Crapies), colored carp, long fin carp, common carp and ‘koi’. They can live in a basic water feature for a while. But some only flourish in certain settings and therefore death rates are very high in pond fish in general.

Koi—as a sub-division of common carp with color--- Indonesian long fin carp crossed with ‘koi’. Colored carp automatically called ‘koi’ and Japanese nishikigoi called ‘koi’ for short. These ‘koi’ can originate from any of the many Asiatic countries that breed common food carp, tropical fish or colored carp. In addition, western countries also produce a basic koi product.

Japanese koi—those fish that are off spring of Japanese carp, resemble Japanese koi in their basic color mutations . this means that they can be produced anywhere in the world as long as they can trace lineage. They tend to be less expensive that true Japanese produced “Japanese koi”. Today, some of these sources are producing truly good show and pet koi.

Nishikigoi—a product of Japanese breeders originating in select areas of Japan that have lineage, are recognized as one of the 13 Japanese ‘koi’ varieties.

Show Nishikigoi—the upper 20% of all Japanese ‘koi’ production. As fry and youngsters they have potential to represent well the standards of each variety and as such, are called tategoi. the tategoi being a fish with potential and implied, good genetics.

Show koi and pet koi—the remaining grades of Japanese production that are male koi of excellent pattern and color and will be able to compete in koi shows in the pre-adult and young adult sizes. This might also include some female fish of good pattern that might represent value in the koi show circuit.

The next grade lower of Japanese ‘koi’ are a reasonable representation of nishikigoi and be considered pet fish of the highest quality. These fish are the heart and soul of the Japanese production and allow for the upper to 10% to exist as an economic possibility.

JR