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2 Barbeled Red under-fin koi HELP PLZ2007-11-24 23:09:20

Why does my Black koi have 2 barbels, 1 normal pair and one over his mouth ( Sort of like a mustache ) And his underfins are red. Please Help me! I dont know if hes a different species or if its just a Different genetic. help would be highly appreciatted.

Answers:

I'm guessing your koi probably has some asagi in him. That is a variety of koi that is either blue, gray, or black on top, with a red belly and fins. A truly "all-black" koi is often more rare than you'd think, since most that are black also seem to have a hint of gold, red, orange, or white to them, usually in the fins. Of course, with koi, unless the parents are "pure bred" to be a certain variety (such as showa or kohaku or asagi or whatever) for several generations, you never know for sure what you're going to get, color-wise, once the fish grows. Colors come and go. I have even had koi that started out as two-step kohakus (white with two red spots), only to become three-step kohakus and turn into showas (red and black on a white background) when some black came in. As long as the red is in the scales and skin of the fish, and not UNDER the skin (such as with septicemia/sepsis), you don't have anything to worry about.

As for the barbels, some koi just have a more pronounced "mustache" than others. I have had some koi that could barely extend their mouth parts out to eat, and others whose lips extended so far, it looked almost grotesque. This is just another (of many, many!) genetic variations you can see among koi.

If your fish is swimming, eating, socializing with the other koi, and holding his fins erect and away from his body, he is happy and healthy, and that's the most important thing. Hope this helps!

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well, i think thats normal. it depends on how the parents looked like or something. alot of fish have that. even my goldfish!