good morning! i have a question. i have 2 koi 1 is a regular and the other is a butterfly. i know that a butterfly koi is considered a hybrid but ive noticed the 2 have totally differant head shapes. my oldest koi Moo Moo (who's black and white) has a nice square big head. my butterfly has a tiny but yet slim triangle shape head. could anyone explain if this is genetics or because one is butterfly and the other is a standard koi?

As you have noticed, not all koi are alike. My neighbor started off with 6 koi in a 1000+ pond and now the pond is about 4 years old and all the fish are over 10 inches except for one is still only around 6. I believe it is just genetics and what ever the parents looked like would determine more of the structure.

I have noticed too that most butterfly koi do have that more triangular head shape. I attribute it to genetics and them being more "inbred" than standard koi. Just like with our fancy goldfish, the further you deviate from the standard form, the more strange things you get!

thankyou! even though my butterfly is hybrid i'll tell ya he/she is so sweet and much differant than the other koi i have. ive had this koi for only 2 days and he/she already eats out of my hand and seems to be very interested in the pond plants i may need new lillies!

Simply genetics. Their head shape will also change as they mature.

thats cool i do hope the head stays the same though i like that look on her.

I heard they adore watermelon right off the rind.

you know i just read that on the web today im going to try that tomorrow

Huh, that's cool. If any of you guys have chickens, they like that too.

im sorry im lost.. please pull me out of the woods they like chicken???