Koi carp
| Koi | |
|---|---|
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Domesticated
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Genus: | Cyprinus |
| Species: | C. rubrofuscus |
| Binomial name | |
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Cyprinus rubrofuscus Lacépède, 1803 |
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Koi (, English: /ˈkɔɪ/, Japanese: [koꜜi]) or more specifically nishikigoi (, [ɲiɕi̥kiꜜɡoi], literally "brocaded carp"), are colored form of Amur carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens.
Koi is an informal group of the colored variants of the Amur carp. Japanese people are the ones who classify this. Koi varieties are distinguished by coloration, patterning, and scalation. Some of the major colors are white, black, red, yellow, blue, and cream. The most popular category of koi is the Gosanke, which is made up of the Kohaku, Taisho Sanshoku, and Showa Sanshoku varieties.
Carp are a large group of fish originally found in Central Europe and Asia. Various carp species were originally domesticated in East Asia, where they were used as food fish. Carp are coldwater fish, and their ability to survive and adapt to many climates and water conditions allowed the domesticated species to be propagated to many new locations, including Japan. Natural color mutations of these carp would have occurred across all populations. Carp were first bred for color mutations in China more than a thousand years ago, where selective breeding of the Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio) led to the development of the goldfish.
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Wikipedia