What is the difference between male and female koi

Female Koi will look more like a blimp, like the Aka Matsuba on the left. Female Koi get wider than male Koi because they carry tons of eggs.

Many Koi collectors make it a point to only have female Koi in their ponds, since the large and wide body displays patterns much better.

That is why most of the award winning Koi at shows are female. When the Japanese breed Koi, they pair a group of males to one female. Now, if you are going to breed one female with a bunch of large males, she is going to get pretty beaten up. This is not good, since a nice breeding female can cost more than a decent house. In order to prevent the female breeders from getting beaten up, they pair a large female with a bunch of smaller males. Since the process is repeated every generation, the males will always be smaller than the females.

It is much easier to tell the differences between sexes when Koi get larger and older. These white growths are exclusive to male koi fishes and will eventually disappear once the mating season is over. The difficulty with differentiating male and female koi fishes lies in the fact that unlike peacocks, both male and female koi are very decorative. This is why the most reliable factors for the gender of koi fish identification are the factors above.

New Koi Fish to add to your Pond? Maybe a Butterfly Koi? What about a Kohaku Koi? What other breeds are out there? How about Building your Own? Here are the most important things to remember when building a koi pond. If you have enjoyed this article then please share it with a friend, or like it on Facebook by using the button on this page. Is Your Koi A Boy? Or A Girl? The easiest way to identify the gender of koi fishes is to ask the breeder about it. Believe me, they will have an answer.

Koi Fish Gender Identification As with other animals, there are certain signs or factors which you should look at for accurate gender of koi identification. But why is it important to know whether your Koi are male or female? The sex of Koi however can affect the quality of the Koi that you buy and the number that you can keep in your pond long term. It is often possible to buy high quality male fish for less than a female fish of the same quality simply because female fish, on average, are likely to grow bigger than male fish.

It just means that the perception that they do is keeping the price of male fish lower than perhaps it really deserves to be — a shrewd koi keeper could use this to their advantage and buy better quality male fish for less money than a female of the same size. The size that Koi grow to is greatly influenced by their environment — water temperature, quality and quantity of food etc and in fact this is likely to play a much bigger part in the future development and growth potential of any koi.

If your interest is in showing your Koi, then once a Koi begins to grow and mature, its sex can influence how big it is likely to grow and determine the way its body shape is likely to develop. However at some Japanese shows categories just for male fish have been introduced which recognize the outstanding qualities that they can display and which would otherwise be overshadowed by their generally bigger female counterparts.

At the All Japan Combined Nishikigoi Show there are two divisions, the general division which has 19 variety classes and a male division, for koi over 50 cm, which has seven variety classes. The fact that the male division starts at 50 cm demonstrates that sexing koi below this size is often a difficult task and also shows that below this size male koi can do well in competition against their female counterparts.

Whilst the top prize of Grand Champion is almost always awarded to a female koi, there are, as always, the odd exceptions — for example at the 31 st All Japan Combined Koi Show this top award went to a male Sanke measuring 88 cm. The sex of a young Koi does not affect its body shape until it begins to reach sexual maturity, which is usually at around three years of age.

It is possible to do well with male fish at smaller sizes in shows but as the fish reach maturity and go above 30 — 40 cm in length, the difference in body shape between the sexes becomes more obvious.

Some females however manage to maintain their gently tapering shape even in the breeding season and it is these that fair better in the show vat. Female Koi generally but not always grow larger than male Koi and this is another reason why Koi at bigger sizes in shows tend to be female.