KOI AND THE CATFISH!

It has been hot, humid, and dry lately. I would like to share with you the feeding of the Osteichthyes in our pond. Osteichthyes is the large group that includes the world's bony fishes. You can see that we love to feed the fish and the koi are especially engaging. Koi are ornamental domesticated varieties of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, that originated from China and widely spread throughout Japan. They are very closely related to goldfish, and in fact the style of breeding and ornamentation has become very similar, probably through the efforts of Japanese breeders to emulate goldfish, but they are not goldfish. (However, you will notice that we do have goldfish also in the pond along with the koi.) Koi and tattoos of Koi are traditionally considered lucky. The word "koi" comes from Japanese. The original Japanese word koi simply means "carp," including both the dull grey fish and the brightly colored varieties.

The orange and black koi were presents from Nasia Butcher who teaches English in Gilmer County. Several years ago she was teaching in Calhoun County and these specimens were part of the decoration of the Calhoun High School Prom! They were swimming in an artificial pond during the dance. When the prom was over, she donated the orange and black koi to our backyard habitat. They were about 5 inches when they arrived and are now 26 inches.

Keep your eyes open to see if you can locate the equally large albino Channel Catfish. This catfish is aggressive during the feeding and has a neat personality. The catfish along with some beautiful white and bluish koi were donated by Peggy Romeo. Peggy is a botanist who taught with me at Glenville State before she moved to Florida.