The Koi fish is a member of the Cyprinus Carpio family, over the many years in captivity there has bean many hybrids developed, from the original Carp that was actually used as a source of protein in Chinese and Japanese rice paddies. Typically when Koi types are discussed the information revolves around the colouration and patterns of the fish. Today we are going to have a look at the actual differences between Koi types and not colour variants.

The common Koi is the plain scaled fish, meaning it is fully scaled by uniform scales across the whole body, with short, strong normal sized fins. This is the Koi type where most of the well known Koi varieties fall into such as the Kohaku, Sanke and Asagi.

The Doitsu Koi type is known for having very few large scales, mainly a line of two large scales down the spine of the Koi with a single line of large scales down the sides by about the lateral line. The parts of the skin not scaled has more of a leather look to it, in some cases the Doitsu Koi type may have no scales at all or just very few around the sides. This Koi type has its origins from the subspecies C c Carpio from Germany. The first of this subspecies was introduced in Japan around 1904 with the hope of increasing the supply of fish meat. A few years later these Carp cross bred with the local Carp and soon after, the first Doitsu Carp came about and eventually Doitsu Koi made its first appearance.

A few decades ago a new Koi type made its way onto the market, with its majestically long fins but typical Koi characteristics known as the Butterfly Koi. Over the years it has become an issue of much debate. Although many hobbyists believe they have their long fins do to a hybridisation of Koi and gold fish it is fairly unlikely. They may even originate from a cross with the Indonesian long fin carp, the truth is that no one truly knows their origin. Unfortunately they have not shared in the prestige that their short fin counterparts enjoy, however this beautiful Koi type has grown in popularity and more Koi farms have invested in promoting the colour variants found.

As the main three Koi types these still fall into the different colour categories as it is the basis of Koi variety. They do share the names, but for the addition of Doitsu or Butterfly at the beginning of the name. If it is your desire to get a better knowledge of Koi and varieties it is always best to begin with the colour classification and move on from there.