Camellia Koi Club

Asagi

CKC 2007 Show

From “Koi Classification” by Doug Dahl on www.akca.org  Asagi were documented over 160 years ago and have evolved to the beautiful specimens we find today.    The Asagi is fully scaled.  Asagi koi have red below the lateral line to the under side, Often some red on all fins and the red can come up from the belly to cover the gill covers and to the base of the mouth.   Blue color is above the lateral line.  The blue color can vary from dark almost gray to a very light blue depending on the bloodlines.   The lighter shade of blue of the Narumi bloodline is preferred.  The blue color of each scale is surrounded by a lighter ring around the edge of the scale giving a netting appearance which is very pretty when all of the scales line up in straight rows.  This last point is very important in judging Asagi. Also, it is difficult to have a clear head with no blemishes so this also is a strong judging point.

Shusui is the Doitsu (scaleless) version of the Asagi.  All criteria and characteristics of Asagi also apply to Shusui except there is no netting pattern but a sky blue top half of the koi.   It is very important there is no break in the line of mirror scales from the back of the head along the dorsal fin and the scales line up in straight rows.   Again, a clear head is very important.  It is difficult to keep black spots from appearing on Shusui in hard, high pH water.  A Shusui with red almost covering the back above the lateral line is called Hi Shusui.  A Hi Shusui with the addition of blue mirror scales on both lateral lines separating the red top and bottom is called “Hana Shusui”.

Other Asagi Photos:

Ginrin Asagi www.inlandkoi.com

Shusui www.pokoi.com