Recognizing Koi Varieties

This is a Very Simple Guide for the Beginner to Koi Keeping - Which we hope will explain these complicated sounding Japanese Names and that it may help you recognize some of these varieties.

Kohaku Kohaku are white Koi with red markings. Ideally the red markings should have a good depth of colour with a uniform shade, the edges of the red should be well defined. The white should be pure white and free from blemishes. As a general guide, the red markings should cover around half of the Koi there are many thoughts on what a good Kohaku should look like .. as of course with nearly all the other Koi Varieties ..
Sanke The Sanke is a three coloured Koi with red and black markings on a white background. the depth of the colours are important, with a pure white background and uniform red plus black markings. There should be no black markings on the head, looking similar to the Kohaku. The body should have large red markings complimented by an even distribution of smaller black patches. Black stripes can often be seen in the pectoral fins and tail.
Showa The Showa is also a three coloured Koi with black, red and white markings. It is similar to the Sanke except that the black areas are much larger, covering a large area of the body, including the head. There is normally a solid area of black at the base of the pectoral fins and some black stripes on the tail
Bekko The Bekko can be regarded as a Sanke without any red and are normally white Koi that have a distinctive set of black markings over the body. The white based Koi are known as Shiro Bekko. There are also varieties known as AKA-Bekko which are red based, but again with Black markings, and then there is the yellow variety which are Ki Bekko and the body of this variety is Yellow and has the black markings. The head of the Bekko should be free of black markings and the base colour the same as the body. The black markings should be balanced patches along the body of the Koi. The Bekkos' fins can have black lines which are similar to those found on the Sanke.
Utsurimono The Utsurimono is similar to the Bekko Koi, with white, red or yellow colours plus black markings. The main difference is that the Utsuri are black Koi with white, red or yellow markings. The Shiro Utsuri is black with white markings, Hi Utsuri black with red and the Ki Utsuri black with yellow. The black should wrap around the body, whereas the black is above the lateral line on the Bekko. Also the black markings should extend from the head to tail.
Asagi The Asagi was probably the very first Carp that colour was introduced to and for that reason is still a popular variety of the Koi collector. The lack the bright coloration is apparent when comparing that to other Koi varieties, being mainly gray/blue above the lateral line and red/orange below. Good examples have a delicate pattern of coloured scales running symmetrically along the back of the Koi. The scales should be regular over the body, the lighter edges being of equal length on all scales. Normally the light gray/blue pectoral fins have an orange marking at their base.
Shusui The Shusui, a true Doitsu Koi again was a very early variety and is extremely popular even today . It has basically the same colours as the Asagi. The head is blue/gray with red on the jaws, below the lateral line and on the fins. The scales along the lateral and dorsal lines are a darker blue than the rest of the Koi. Due the lack of scale detail on the back of the Shusui compared to the Asagi, the skin often appears as pale blue.
Koromo The Koromo or Goromo as it is sometimes called has a basic pattern similar to that of the Kohaku, but due to cross- breeding with the Asagi has a well defined scale pattern within the red / brownish areas. This variety is a very popular one and as with all patterned Koi .. beauty is in the eye of the beholder ...

There are a great many more varieties, with more being introduced almost on a yearly basis as both the Japanese and the other main breeders throughout the world continue with their cross-breeding in further attempts to bring out that 'Perfect Koi' .. you will gain much more knowledge as time passes and learn about these other varieties as you become more experienced ..

A last word .. we all have to learn these Names .. please don't be embarrassed when you visit your local dealer and pronounce that name wrong ... that dealer may have already done that himself not so many years before ... it really does take time to understand this fascinating world of Koi ..

Good luck to you all ..

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