Judging Long Finned Koi

by Ray Jordan

Originally published in the December 2005 issue of Ponderings

 There is no doubt that long finned koi, sometimes called butterfly koi, are becoming more popular. A little over 20 years ago koi were crossed with long finned carp from Indonesia. The initial goal was to produce larger and hopefully hardier koi. The offspring were mostly brownish “long finned” carp with an occasional splash of color that seemed to grow much faster than regular koi. The descendants of these initial spawns were crossed back to regular koi to produce colors and patterns identifiable as recognized koi varieties. Today you can find many of the 50+ varieties of koi developed/bred as long finned koi specimens.

One of our local koi club members, Vance Schultze, owns/operates Tank Hollow Farms in Poteet, Texas. Vance is a long time successful sport fish breeder and about 13 years ago started breeding long finned koi. His original long finned brood fish came from Atsushi Suda who is the Japanese koi breeder that developed long finned koi in Japan. Vance ‘s breeding/culling techniques are very similar to how koi are bred and culled to specific varieties/patterns in Japan. Much of the long finned koi sold in the U.S. today are the result of random spawning of many different” varieties” rather than predetermined controlled crosses with a selected female long fin and one or two male long fins to produce a specific recognized variety.

A few years ago I volunteered to help Vance with his culling/selection process. And was able to observe that even with targeted controlled crosses of long fin with a kohaku pattern to another long fin with a kohaku pattern only 2-5% of the babies meet the accepted pattern standards desirable for a kohaku. Also there are assorted deformities such as crooked bodies, missing fins, etc., that are not acceptable. 

Many koi shows in the U.S. include a separate competition for long finned koi.  Currently none of the koi judging organizations have developed a specific criteria for long finned koi. As an AKCA candidate judge and frequent speaker at koi events I have been asked how to judge long finned koi. Following is my personal criterion for judging long fins.

Conformation:Just like regular koi, body size, body shape, and finnage are the most important considerations to evaluate. I prefer long fins with a strong body shape. Some long finned koi are either too skinny or too fat for their body length. A strong robust body shape that is streamlined and enables the long fin to carry it’s fins gracefully and swim effortlessly is my preference. I do not long fins that seem to be all fins with a tiny thin body or those that seem to have a deep goldfish like body that seem to waddle rather than swim gracefully. I am trying to describe a balance between body size, shape and finnage. Finnage is a big part of conformation. I appreciate best the long fins with full sweeping fins that enable them to swim gracefully. I do not like pectorals that are too narrow like pennants. I look for fins that are balanced in size and shape and held gracefully when swimming. Also some long fins have pectorals that appear twisted which is undesirable to me.

Color: Same as regular koi. The quality of the colors on long finned koi are the next criteria in importance. Colors should be thick and uniform and the same hue all over the long fin. The edges of the pattern should be sharp and one color should not bleed into another. 

Pattern: Same as regular koi. Show quality long finned koi should display the same type of desirable patterns standardized for regular koi patterns. In other words a long finned koi of kohaku genetics should look like a very nice kohaku but with beautiful and balanced long fins.

Quality/Presence: Same as regular koi. This is the criteria where the exceptional long fins stand out from their competition. Higher quality long fins will display a “glow” produced by youthful looking skin with a healthy sheen that makes their colors really pop. This is hard to describe but when you see it you will know it. 

Summary: Long fins cannot compete against regular koi because their finnage does not conform to established koi standards. However they deserve to be appreciated for all their merits not just given prizes based on the fish with the longest fins. (JMHO) Long fin koi are becoming more popular, accomplished, and deserve of their own competition at a koi show.