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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re going to be talking about koi fish. If you like learning facts about animals then subscribe to this channel so you can stay up to date on all the new content.

Koi fish are widely accepted as a subspecies of the common carp. For hundreds of years these fish were kept by Chinese farmers in their rice fields as a source of food. Later, this practice was picked up by farmers in Japan who saw the potential of raising the carp as an ornamental species; plus, while I can’t personally vouch for this, according to some people carp don’t taste very good so maybe that had something to do with it. Beginning in the early 1800s, the common carp was bred for color mutations and the trend spread throughout Japan, thus, the koi fish was born. It wasn’t until 1914, however, that the world became aware of these colorful carps at an exhibition in Tokyo. Koi fish swam their way into the hearts of people across nearly every continent and today they are widely kept around the world.

This surge in popularity has lead to dozens of color variants though their types can typically be broken down into somewhere around twenty different categories. The most common colors they display are white, orange, red, yellow, black, blue and cream and these can show up as solid colors (like the hikarimono variant), as spots (like the tancho variant) and mottled markings (like the bekko variant). They can even appear metallic and pearlescent.

While they may look pretty if left to their own devices after a few generations they will actually revert back to their natural brownish tinge. Carp are rather robust fish and can survive in many different environments. Koi fish longevity can probably be attributed to this fact. Because they’re so hardy, if released in an ecosystem where they don’t naturally occur, that can cause devastating effects. In some areas of the world carp are considered a pest and it’s possible that they exist as an invasive species due to the release of domestic koi fish. Basically, if it don’t belong there, don’t put it there.

Koi fish can reach up to three feet in length if well cared for and weigh around 30 pounds. For comparison that’s almost three Chesters. They’re omnivores and eat other fish and fish eggs as well as vegetation and fruit if they can get ahold of it. Due to their stand-out colors in a natural environment they are preyed upon by a multitude of animals including waterfowl such as herons as well as cats, foxes, otters, raccoons and badgers.

They breed during warmer months based on their geographical location and those found in hotter climates may mate year round. Eggs are laid and then fertilized and anyone wanting baby koi had better get them out quick because the parents will actually eat the eggs! Ahh, yes, parenting at its finest. On average it’s accepted that koi fish live about 50 years, but what’s amazing is that they can live more than 200 years. In fact, the oldest recorded living fish was a koi fish named Hanako. She was born in 1751 and lived to be 226 years old. She outlived multiple generations of caretakers and survived both world wars as well as the Edo and Meji periods of Japan (which, for the uninitiated, where times of great change and upheaval in Japanese history). Scientists were able to determine her age based on growth rings on her scales, much like the growth rings of a tree. Also, I wanted to point out that Hanako was born far earlier than what most consider the origin of koi fish which we previously stated happened in the early 1800s. While ultimately I don’t have any facts to back this up, my guess would be that small populations of koi fish were kept by more influential families at the time because the practice of ornamental fish species was not a novel idea. Goldfish had already been bred in China for quite awhile so the concept of breeding fish for their looks was nothing new in East Asia. Let us know if you know more about Hanako’s story!

Koi fish are a symbol of power and prosperity and well as love and friendship. A Chinese legend tells the tale of a koi who swam upstream for many miles over waterfalls and through rapids to reach the Dragon Gate at the top of a mountain. Once the koi reached this sacred place it became a great and powerful dragon. I for one love the idea of swimming dragons, how about you?

For more information on koi fish feel free to check out the links in the description. Let us know which animal you’d like to learn about next. Thank you for watching and be sure to give a thumbs up for more Animal Fact Files!