*Update: 12/31/02:
The newest generation of koi are pairing off and spawning. The majority
of these fish were born in March and April of 2002. I can't say that I
am seeing an improvement in color over past generations, but I am
pleased to see that more lines are producing abdominal and ventral
color than I have seen in the past. The following are some photos of
the latest generations of Koi. The picture above
shows the female that was paired with the Black Blusher (line B). It won't be
necessary to repeat that breeding, so the female
has been paired with a good young Koi male. They have been together
for a week and are showing signs of spawning.
Update 7/26/03:
The offspring of this pair appear to be excellent fish. They were born in Jan.
of 03. I am growing out a dozen or so and will select breeders as soon as I
can determine their sex. Some of these will be bred to siblings. Others will
be crossed to other lines. The following are photos of these fish at six
months of age.
PHOTOS: Offspring from C x CD veil male July 03.jpg, Offspring from C x CD veil male
July 03 Tank 2.jpg
Update 9/09/04: Line C continues to improve in color, as well as
type. The following is a photo that I like a lot. It shows a group
of three month old Koi
displaying good intensity, some average Koi, and one Gold Blusher. It can
be difficult to know if color is true due to the differences in cameras,
flash settings, monitors, and a number of factors. This picture shows a
variety of fish photographed under the same conditions.
The
photo below shows two of these same fish at six months of age. Although
they are siblings, they still show the wide gap which exists between my best Koi
and Gold Marbles in terms of color intensity.
These fish are now a year old and have been paired with other suitable
mates. I have current photos of them and will make an effort to get them
up on the page. They are spawning and I am waiting to see how their
offspring will turn out.
I have recently begun to do some work
on the development of (Line C) Gold Blushers (Sunsets). They regularly
appear in spawns of heterozygous Koi, but I seldom if ever keep them in the
breeding program. They are colorful, but the color is usually slightly different
than the color of a good Koi. I have always thought of them as a Koi without
marbling. So it stands to reason that as the Koi color improves in terms of
spread and density of orange, that the Sunsets would keep pace. Mine really
haven’t. What is reason? Does Gold Marble contain more
carotenoid pigment than Gold? Does the pterin pigment in black interact
with the carotenoid pigment to produce a darker orange? Does a homozygous Gold
Marble Blusher double up on either or both of these pigments to produce a darker
orange color? Did the Gold Marble gene benefit more than the Gold gene
from years of selective breeding?
This
Gold Blusher (Sunset) is a nice bright orange. I have it paired with
another similar looking fish. I have not kept a Sunset spawn in
years. It will be interesting to see how their fry turn out.
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