Those beautiful, gracious long fin koi are NOT a cross between regular koi and goldfish like many people believe (including us until now — and we apologize for misleading you with the misconception). Indeed they are their own breed with a heritage traced back to Indonesia.

About 12 years ago Mr. Wyatt Lefever, President of Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery, ordered some long finned koi mainly out of curiosity. What he received was a fish resembling a wild carp with long fins and ugly gray in color. Since they were so ugly he considered ditching the whole project of trying to develop the koi into a fish that would have commercial value. Persistence prevailed and over a period of years Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery was able to cross-breed those ugly long finned koi with regular koi resulting in koi with color and sparkling scales while retaining their beautiful long flowing fins. Wyatt Lefever’s son, Randy, was observing them one day and remarked that they looked like butterflies. Hence the name "butterfly koi" which they are called today.

Through continuing selective cross-breeding over the last 12 years Blue Ridge has developed beautiful butterfly koi in many colors and patterns such as Kohaku, Sanke, Matsuba and Ogon. Some are beginning to rival their ancestral Japanese koi in color and patterns and many have the sparkling scales known as Gin Rin.

At around the same time Mr. Lefever acquired his original long-finned koi, several breeders in Japan acquired the same fish from Indonesia. The Japanese breeders must not have foreseen the value (and beautiful results) of developing these fish. It’s a shame because, with their many years of experience and skill of breeding koi varieties, the Japanese could have possibly developed even more colors and patterns.

Only in the last year or so has any attention been shown to the butterfly at koi shows. A butterfly has never won any prestigious award that we’re aware of - except an award for best butterfly! Never has a butterfly won Grand Champion. The butterfly is not yet recognized in Japanese competition. More and more we should be seeing these fish in American shows. We, at The Pond Doc’s Water Garden Center, are all for it!

Butterfly koi start to develop elongated fins and tail at about 6 months of age. During the first year they develop into beautiful koi that swim with regal grace, their fins flowing beside them, earning them the title of butterfly koi. If grown slowly, the fins grow longer to almost the length of the body. A large slowly developed koi is a wonder to see! Butterflies, because of their hybrid vigor, tend to be stronger, more hardy and more disease resistant than common goldfish or regular koi.

Incidentally, koi and goldfish can cross-breed according to Mr. Lefever. The results are fish that are unattractive specimens resembling wild carp with very little color. In Blue Ridge’s experiences so far, these cross-breeds are always sterile, eliminating the possibility of continued selective breeding.