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Koi Glossary

        

        

       

Ai – blue or indigo

 

Aigoromo – a Goromo (Koromo) koi with blue or indigo reticulation

 

Ai Showa – a showa koi with blue or indigo speckles

 

Aka – red

 

Akame – eye with a red iris

 

Akebi – light blue

 

Asagi – “blue”, referring to a koi with a reticulated bluish body and red markings on the underside, which may also be present in the pectoral fins and cheeks

 

Ato sumi – late-developing black markings

 

Bekko – refers to a koi whose body has a single base color (white, red, or yellow) with black markings generally in the form of spots or speckles above the lateral line

 

Beni – orange-red

 

Boke – faded or blurred color, usually referring to black or sumi

 

Budo – a color that’s intermediate between aigoromo and sumigoromo

 

Bunka – a variation of the sanshoku or tricolor pattern

 

Cha – brown

 

Chagoi – a brown koi, known for its splendid growth

 

Doitsu – translates to ‘German,’ and refers to a koi that either: 1) has no visible scales; or 2) has mirror-like scales only on the dorsal and lateral lines

 

Enyu – a doitsu koi with a white body and red markings whose mirror scales are platinum; pale blue speckles may be interspersed within the red and white color of the dorsal surface

 

Etsu No Hisoku – a doitsu yellow-green koi

 

Fukurin - an area around the scales of a metallic koi that exhibits extra luster

 

Gin – silver metallic color

 

Ginrin - a koi with silver-colored sparkling scales

 

Goior Koi or Goi – wild carp

 

Goke – fish scale

 

Gosanke – a term that refers collectively to the 'big three' of koi keeping: Kohaku, Sanke, and Showa

 

Goshiki – translates to ‘5 colors’, referring to a koi with a white base color with black-and-blue reticulation, overlaid by Kohaku-like red patterns

 

Gotensakura – a Kohaku with much red patches

 

Hageshiro – an all-black koi (Karasu) whose head and snout are patched with white or brown

 

Hagoromo – a variety of aigoromo

 

Hajiro – an all-black koi (Karasu) whose tail and fins are edged with white

 

Hanako – translates to ‘flower maiden’, referring to a red koi

 

Hi – red, usually referring to a red patch or coloration on a koi

 

Hariwake – a metallic white koi with gold or yellowish markings

 

Hikari - metallic

 

Hikarimoyo – refers to a metallic koi with more than one color, with the exception of metallic showa and metallic utsuri (both of which are classified as Hikari Utsuri)

 

Hikarimuji - refers to a metallic koi of single color

 

Hikariutsuri – refers to a koi that's a metallic version of either the Showa or the Utsuri

 

Hisoku – yellow-green color

 

Inazuma – a zigzag pattern usually associated with Kohakus

 

Jiro – white

 

Kabuto – translates to ‘helmet’, referring to a koi whose head color is different from that of its body

 

Kagami – an old koi variety with mirror scales on both the dorsal and ventral sides

 

Kanako – a koi with a white body and red spots

 

Karasu – a totally black koi, often tinged with a blue haze

 

Kasane Sumi – a black marking on a red background; see also tsubo sumi

 

Kawa – a koi with no scales except for some reflective scales on the dorsal surface

 

Kawarimono – the old name for koi with undefined color or pattern

 

Kawarigoi – the new name for Kawarimono koi, covering all koi varieties that do not fall under established mainstream koi classifications

 

Ki – yellow

 

Kin – metallic gold

 

Kiwa – the edge of a patch or marking

 

Kinginrin - a koi with silver- or gold-colored sparkling scales

 

Kinrin - a koi with gold-colored sparkling scales

 

Kohaku – a koi with a white body and red markings

 

Komoyo – small zigzag pattern of red and white

 

Konjo – dark blue

 

Koromo – translates to 'robed',  referring to a koi that has a white base color with red patterns overlaid with dark reticulation

 

Koshi – green

 

Kuchibeni – a red-lipped koi

 

Kujaku – translates to ‘peacock’, referring to a reticulated metallic koi with red, orange or golden markings.

 

Kumonryu - is the term applied to a doitsu koi with a 'killer whale' pattern, i.e., a black body with white markings

 

Kuro – black

 

Leather Koi – refers to a koi with no visible scalation, e.g., doitsu

 

Ma – wild

 

Maruten – a koi with a round red patch on the head in addition to other markings on the body

 

Matsuba – a pine-cone or reticulated pattern resulting in a ‘net effect’ at the back of a koi; usually caused by scales whose centers are colored differently from their edges

 

Menkaburi – masked, usually referring to a Kohaku with a completely red head

 

Menware – a lightning-shaped marking across the head of a koi, which is a desirable trait in a Showa or Utsuri

 

Meija – the era from 1868 to 1912

 

Midorigoi – a doitsu koi of greenish color

 

Moto aka – red pectoral joint

 

Motoguro – black coloration at the base of pectoral fins; a desirable trait in Showa and Utsuri

   

Moyo – with markings or patterns

 

Muji – translates to ‘nothing else’, usually used as a suffix to refer to a single-colored koi

 

Narumi – light blue

 

Nezu – gray or tarnished silver color

 

Nidan – refers to a two-stepped Kohaku, i.e., a koi with two red patches over its white body

 

Odome – tail stop

 

Ogon – refers to a single-colored metallic koi

 

Omoyo - refers to a single-stepped Kohaku, i.e., a koi with just a single patch over its white body

 

Orenji – orange

 

Purachina – refers to a platinum or very white metallic koi

 

Rin – scale

 

Sandan – refers to a three-stepped Kohaku, i.e., a koi with three red patches over its white body

 

Sanke – ‘three-colored’, referring to a koi with a white body and red and black markings; the black markings are generally in the form of spots above the lateral line

 

Sanshoku – a three-colored koi, referring to either the sanke or the showa

 

Sashi – mottled black, gray or blue coloration beneath a koi's skin, usually referring to undeveloped black markings; may also refer to the blurred line caused by white scales overlapping red ones of the hi

 

Shiro – white

 

Shiroji – white background

 

Shiku – colored

 

Shimi – undesired small black spots on the body of a koi

            

Showa - refers to a koi with a black body and red and white markings; the black markings are generally in the form of large streaks that wrap around the body

   

Shusui – a doitsu koi with light bluish dorsal color, red ventral colorations, and mirror scales

 

Sui – a ripple effect

 

Sumi – a black marking or patch

 

Taisho Era – the era covering 1912-1926

 

Taisho Sanshoku – same as a sanke koi

 

Tancho – refers to a Kohaku, Sanke, or Showa whose only red marking is a round patch of red on the head.

 

Tategoi - a koi with good potential to be a future champion

 

Tobi Hi – splattered red

 

Tosai – a young koi, i.e., a koi less than one year old

 

Tsubo Sumi – a black marking over a white background; see also kasane sumi

 

Utsuri – refers to a koi whose body has a single base color (white, red, or yellow) with black markings generally in the form of large streaks that wrap around the body

 

Yamabuki – pale yellow color; derived from the name of a yellow-petaled rose, Kerria japonica, from China

 

Yamabuki Ogon – a pale yellow single-colored metallic koi

 

Yamabuki Hariwake - a metallic koi with white body and light yellow markings

 

Yondan – a four-stepped Kohaku, i.e., a koi with four red patches on its white body

 

Yotsujiro – a black koi whose head, fins, and undersides are white

 

Yoroi – translates to ‘armored’, usually referring to a doitsu koi with excessive mirror scales

   

Zuiun – a color variant of the shusui

 

 

 

References 

 

1.  AnMarie Barrie, "The Professional's Book of Koi", TFH Publications, 1992

2.  www.koi.com

3.  http://www.pkwsonline.com/glossary.html

4.  Douglas Dahl, "Koi Appreciation and Judging Criteria"

5.  Koi USA Magazines published by Associated Koi Clubs of America, Inc.

                           

 

 

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