Koi in 1820s: Yamakoshi colour mutants
[14] [koi-0-14] In 1820s, the field log for Koi is headed “Yamakoshi colour mutants.” The figure kept beside that heading is 1800. It is a count or a date from the work, not a rank of the species’ worth. A zoo birthday card does not replace the log. Colour mutants were kept in Yamakoshi rice-terrace ponds in the early 1800s. The 1914 Tokyo Taisho exhibition took them national.
Koi herpesvirus outbreaks from the late 1990s killed whole collections. Quarantine and certified-free stock became the new entry ticket. Are escaped koi a conservation problem? Common carp are invasive in many rivers and lakes. A show pond is secure; a flood overflow is not a garden anymore.
Giverny water lilies host carp in the public mind. The nishikigoi fancy is Japanese; the Impressionist pond is a later cross-reading. The ornamental lineage is mass-bred and not Red-Listed. High resilience here means secure stock, not ecological innocence. Koi is one of 24 types in this animals atlas. The pages treat it as a full system -- history, anatomy, operating principles, culture, icons, future pressure and market shape -- not a ranking of a best species.
Scores compare the koi with the other 23 types on speed, intelligence, range, resilience, cultural impact and ecological role. They are relative editorial marks. Resilience high means more secure; low means threatened. Domestic and abundant; wild common carp are invasive in many basins. Resilience here means the ornamental lineage is secure, not that escaped koi are harmless.
Keep 1820s, “Yamakoshi colour mutants,” and 1800 together or the note on Koi stops being that year’s record.1820s
Figures to keep
- Year of the note
- 1820s
- Figure to keep
- 1800
- Species
- Koi
- Line in the log
- Yamakoshi colour mutants