Abomination or Angelic Beauty

Traditional Koi connoisseurs are filled with an all consuming passion for their fishy friends. They love the depth and spectrum of colors, carefully evaluate the body shape, and dissect the lineage of their koi. They have preferred breeders to buy from, and those breeders wok tirelessly to produce the “perfect” koi.

Photo courtesy of Koitotheworld.com

Koi connoisseurs anxiously await the color changes brought on by each passing year, as their koi mature and change. They fret over the plain, little, black, fingerling, hoping it will make the leap through the “Dragon’s Gate” to become the amazing snow white, and deep black Utsuri they dream of. They drool over the never ending changes on their prize Showa, waiting for the final dramatic flourish of color that will make the time spent all worth while.

What they don’t do is love Butterfly Koi. They actually consider them abominations. They kind of hate them. Some koi connoisseurs don’t even consider butterflies to be actual koi.

Still, I love butterfly koi. Their long, flowing fins, take flight in my mind as elegantly as eagles soaring majestically overhead.

I love their colors and patterns, the way they move, and their slightly, odd body shape. I even love the long flowing nares, admittedly somewhat similar to an old man’s nose hairs sticking out all over the place, but beautiful in their own way.

Traditional koi connoisseurs don’t consider butterflies “real” koi. In fact, only recently have they been allowed at some koi shows. They don’t show well against traditional koi though, so they are given their own classes, and are entered as “longfin variety” not koi.

Butterfly koi were originally bred by crossing Indonesian long fin river carp with traditional koi to help increase the hardiness of traditional koi.

Some koi connoisseurs don’t even consider butterflies to be actual koi.

butterfly-koi-tatt The Japanese breeders that produced them, called them “onogaoi” which translates as long tail carp. So, I guess technically they aren’t true koi, when you get down to the nitty gritty.

That said, butterfly koi are a beautiful addition to your pond, with their ridiculously long fins flowing and swirling around them in the peaceful waters, they lend a greater sense of calm to the pond, and add their own special beauty.

Butterfly koi fans often call them “angel” koi, supporting the beauty of their graceful finnage with a heavenly nickname. Other fans call them “dragon” koi, a name reminiscent of the strength they have given to the traditional koi lineage.

If you are willing to live outside the box, look in to butterfly koi, you may be pleasantly surprised.

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Leslie Triplett, The Pond Gal