Koi in 1998s: KHV years

After the 1960s export boom, Israeli and US growers scaled food-and-ornamental carp. Butterfly fins are largely a non-Niigata aesthetic. 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.