Koi varieties
Kohaku
Description: A perfect body form and a breathtaking pattern.
Characteristics: The Kohaku is a bichrome Koi with red mottling
on a white background.
One can distinguish 3 shades of red:
- orangy-red – dark red – intense red (recommended as best)
Through growth, the red colouring will break off into pieces and begin to take on a specific pattern. Monochrome young Koi will be immediately removed from fish culture through an initial sifting.
Sanke
Description: A perfect Kohaku pattern, supplemented by a few Sumi spots.
Characteristics: The Sanke is a trichrome Koi with a white base to which large Hi blotches and small Sumi-spots are added. The white is required to be snow-white over the entire body. With the addition of black and red, the beauty is increased, but the manner in which this Sumi appears determines the quality of the Sanke. The Sumi spots are required to have a deep hue and be well-defined. The preference for the red colour is that of deep red.
Showa Sanshoku
Description: A trichrome fish with a black base patterned in white and red.
Characteristics: Unlike the Sanke, the Showa has a Sumi base with large red and white patterns. Since the Showa has a black base, the main parts are coloured black. The Sumi runs over the body up to under the stomach. This also applies to all other Koi with a black background. The Sumi and the Hi is required to be present on the head and may run up to over to the jaws and the nose of the Koi. The Hi is however required to be clear and distinctive and well-defined. The black lapping effect is required to be present on the pectoral fins.
Shiro Utsuri
Description: This is a Koi, black in colour with large snow-white blotches.
Characteristics: The white blotches of the Koi may not be besmirched with black spots otherwise the quality of the Koi decreases. The colour on the head is required to be dense and impervious, the Sumi and the pattern are required to have a nice sheen. The quality of the Shiro Utsuri has in the recent past been improved to such a degree that at Shows they compete for the title of "Grand Champion".
Shusui
Description: The Doitsu version of the Agasi with fine and orderly large blue-black scales on both sides along the dorsal fin.
Characteristics: The Shusui has two rows of large, dark-blue scales which run evenly and in equal width along the dorsal fin. The head is required to be clear and light blue-grey in colour. This colour is required to have the same hue all-over and dispersed over the body from the dorsal fin up to the midline of the flanks. The red colour runs beneath the lateral line of the flanks and is required to have an intense hue. Red lapping on the pectoral fins is a requirement.
Agasi
Description: A blue-grey Koi, of which the vertebra on the spine have a mesh pattern.
Characteristics: Each scale is required to have a dark-blue centre and is edged with a white or light-blue colour. An absolute requirement by the Asagi is that it has a clear monochrome head. This colour can be white, grey-blue or red. Red is also present on the pectoral and pelvic fins.
Yamabuki Ogon
Description: A Koi with a monochrome metal-lustred skin.
Characteristics: A good body form with a full even colour, the head is required to be perfectly clear and be covered with a nice gold or silver sheen. Well-fitting scales, which lie firm against the body. The pectoral fins are required to be of equal size with a nice sheen up to the tops of the fins.
