Wild (Male)Scalare crossed to Line A/C Koi		F1 50% Wild Gold Marble Ghost		F2 50% Wild Koi Male resulting from the breeding of sibling F1 Gold Marble Ghosts. This male was selected from thousands of siblings, which were less colorful. He would be the foundation male for Line D.

F3 50% Wild Koi resulting from the breeding of Foundation Male and his best female sibling.		F4 Line D

Line D – The following photos show the F-4 fish that were selected as future breeders.  Their deep orange color extends into the abdominal region.  Body and fin shape are exceptional.  I intend to continue this line as is.  I will also select a good male, which will be bred to a new Wild Scalare line.  

Update 10/03/04: I recently returned from a collecting trip in Peru.  We collected Wild Scalare along the shores of the Rio Nanay River which winds through the Northern Peruvian Jungle.  We started our trip on the Amazon, at the city of Iquitos.  Roughly two miles up river we branched on to the Nanay River.  After ten hours by boat, we arrived at an area selected by local fishermen.  This is a photo of some of the fish we collected.  The fish in the pan were caught only a few hours earlier.  Their fins were very long, almost veil like.  The fish in hand shows what can happen to those near perfect fins after spending three days in that same pan.  

My plan was to duplicate the same crosses that I used for my last wild out-cross in 1999.  One of these Wild Peruvian Males would be mated to an Asian Koi Female.  The best of the F-1 offspring (Stripeless Marbles) would be crossed into my color line.  Because of the drastic mix of the gene pool, I would hope to see some surprises in future generations.  This process was expected to take approximately a year, possibly longer.  Fortunately for me, my partner on the collecting expedition, Louis Tamarelle, surprised me at his hatchery by showing me a tank which held a dozen of these Wild Cross F-1's.   He had brought in a group of Wild Peruvian Scalare from the same river that we had fished, and had already done "part one" of the out-cross to his line of Asian Koi.  I don't mind doing the work, but it was just too good to pass up when he offered me some of them.  The following picture shows his 50% Wild Cross Koi (Stripeless Marble) and the Line D Male that I selected as its mate.  This pair spawned the day after I introduced them.  The eggs were very small compared to my other lines.  The fry died after two days.  I expect another spawn at any time. 

Update 10/24/04: Same pair, different tank.  The pair did spawn again.  Fry are doing great.  I decided to keep the spawn.  The pair has been moved from the 55gal to this low 20gal where the temp is a little lower.  They will be there if I ever decide to use them again.

Update 12/14/04: Offspring from this pair look very good.  Orange color seems a little better in the F-2 than it was five years ago, which is the last time I did an outcross to wild.   They are from the spawn pictured above.  It is difficult to get good, clear shots because they seldom stop moving.  My camera doesn't have the shutter speed necessary to capture the image.  It's probably time to start looking at a digital SLR.