Koi Fish For Sale

At this page, we will discuss and explain a different variety of koi fish for sale that is available out there.

The Kohaku

The kohaku is the most highly cherished of the koi varieties, a good specimen will be very valuable and really stands out in the pond. It is described as a two color, non metallic koi, namely a white bodies koi with a red (Hi) pattern on its back. On a god specimen of Kohaku, the pattern should have clearly defined edges and the white should be a good unblemished color, often described as snow white.

Sanke

Taisho Sanshoku, or Sanke (meaning tri color) as it is commonly known, was so named because it was first shown at the Taisho exhibition in 1915 (Taisho era 1912 - 1926). The Sanke is a non metallic fish with a double color pattern, red (Hi) and black (Sumi), on a white base or body color. Sumi found on the Sanke will be in small patches placed in a balanced way along the length of the body, but not normally on the head.

Showa

Showa Sanshoku, or showa as it is commonly known was developed in the late 1920s by crossing a Ki-utsuri with a kohaku. In the simplest terms, a showa is non metallic but with red and white markings on a black base. Over the years, this variety has changed with fashion. The early showa had large amounts of sumi (black) and hi (red), but only small amounts of white.

Utsuri mono

The utsuri is a two color koi, the base color being black. The second color can be white shiro, red hi, or yellow ki. As utsuri means reflections in japanese, the pattern will tend to alternate the black and the color side to side and as is usual in koi appreciation, the pattern should be well balanced both side to side and along the length of a well proportioned body.

Bekko

The bekko is described as a fish with a black pattern on a colored base. the black sumi appears as balanced patches along the back of the koi, above the lateral line but not on the head.

Asagi/Shusui

The asagi is one of the oldest recorded forms of Nishikigoi and a descendant of the Asagi magoi. It has a blue black and red flanks below the lateral line and red on the cheeks below the eyes.

And the rest of the Koi Fish For Sale we have is

1. Koromo - This class is essentially made up from Kohaku, Sanke or Showa with a blackish or bluish overlay on the red pattern (from crossing with Asagi) that led to the class name Koromo (Japanese for robed)

2. Kawarimono - The last of the non metallic classes contains varieties of koi that do not fall into any of the earlier groups. Some of the more popular named varieties are Goshiki (five colors), Chagoi, Hajiro and Midorigoi.

3. Ogon (Hikari Muji Mono) - There are several varieties of Ogon and they all fall into the class of the Hikari Muji mono. Hikari means metallic or shiny, muji means single color and mono means ones (ie fish). Because these fish are one color, the emphasis is on comformation of body shape, quality of the metallic sheen (lustre), clarity of the head, and the even coloration and alighment of the scales.

The fins are the same color as the body and this color depth should be even across the fins. The traditional Ogon is gold, but there are several color variations, the most common one being the Yamabuki (yellow) ogon. Other colors include the Orenji (orange), Purachina (platinum) and Nezu (silver grey). Although nominally a single color metallic grouping, there is one deviation from that.

When an Ogon has dark centers to its scales, it becomes known as a Matsuba Ogon. Matsuba scalation gives the impression of a pinnecone. The matsuba variants are Gin (silver) Matsuba and Kin (gold) Matsuba, and the feature to appreciate here is the pinecone scalation.

The dark scale centers should be clearly defined and the scales should be evenly distributed over and along the top of the body and down below the lateral line.

4. Hikari Moyo Mono - Hikari Moyo mono is the class name for a metallic koi with two or more colors. Examples are Kojaku, Hariwake and Yamatonishiki.

5. Hikari Utsuri Mono - This class contains the metallic Showa and Utsuri varieties, such as Kin Showa and Kin Ki Utsuri.

6. KinGInRin - All the classes described above contain koi varieties that may exhibit distinctly shiny or sparkling, rather than metallic scales. If they are in the Kohaku, Sanke and Showa classes, these koi fall into the KinGinRin class. Other varieties usually fall into their own class.

7. Tacho - The name of this class is taken from the Tancho crane that has a single red spot on the top of its head. This is the last class of the 13 classes and contains varieties of the Kohaku, Sanke and Showa classes, where the only red on these fish is a well placed circular spot on the head.