A veterinarian used a 4-foot-long wooden stick to point at the different types of koi fish swimming in the pond Sunday afternoon.
Nick Saint-Erne spoke about the history of koi fish and the variation of their colors at the Japanese Friendship Garden near Third Avenue and Latham Street.
“See that one there, the orange one? That one is called Orenji, the Japanese word for orange,” he said.
Saint-Erne’s lecture is part of a series the Japanese Friendship Garden has hosted for about four years. The lectures, hosted once a month, provide volunteers and guests a chance to learn something and attract new customers.
The topics cover different aspects of Japanese culture or gardening. In the past, the garden offered lectures about bonsai trees, Buddhism, origami, Japanese swords and Taiko drumming.
During the lecture, the veterinarian explained that the fish weren’t originally colorful. Koi are descendents of the common carp.
The fish were exported to Japan 400-600 years ago and were bred on farms for food. They were brown until the first recorded mutation in 1803, when someone noticed a red fish, Saint-Erne said. Nishikigoi, the Japanese word for koi fish, translates to fancy carp.
“They’re such a fascinating fish. It’s such a great story of domestication,” Saint-Erne said. “They went from a wild animal, to a farm animal to a pet.”
There are 13 color varieties and every koi has a different pattern.
“Koi are like an original painting in that no two are alike,” Saint-Erne said.
The history of koi fish was more detailed than he originally thought, said Michael Buelow, who organized the lecture series.
Each lecture has 20-40 viewers, but it’s hard to tell if visitors came in intentionally or happened upon the lecture by chance, he said.
Buelow has volunteered at the Japanese Friendship Garden for 10 years, and said being at the garden brings him a great deal of peace and quiet.
“It’s nice to have something to offer besides a nice view,” he said.
Saint-Erne published a book in 2002, Advanced Koi Care, that was primarily written to teach other veterinarians how to take care of koi fish, he said.
Saint-Earne is also on the board of directors for the Japanese Friendship Garden and World Aquatic Veterinarian Medical Association.
Yesterday was the first day that Gary Susag, who has raised goldfish for 25 years, had ever been to the Japanese Friendship Garden.
“It was nice that he was able to point out fish and colors,” Susag said of the lecture.
The Japanese Friendship Garden will also have a koi festival March 31 with a koi competition. The koi are judged on how bright and true their color is and how pleasing the pattern is, Saint-Earne said.
The garden is looking for new volunteers, Buelow added, although they wouldn’t be working directly with the koi fish.
Contact the reporter at mlongdon@asu.edu
