Sanke versus Showa

In previous articles I told you about the Sanke and the Showa . Both varieties belong together with the Kohaku to the Go Sanke group. The Go Sanke are the most popular varieties from the koi scene. The Kohaku The Sanke is a fish with white and red colors, while the Showa is a fish with white, red, and black colors. The latter two, in particular, are often confused. In this article, I will explain the differences between these two varieties, so you won't be so easily mistaken.

Base color

First of all, a Sanke is a fish with a white base color and a red and black pattern on top. A Showa is a fish with a black base color and a red and white pattern on top. But how do you tell what the base color is? Modern Showa fish (Kindai Showa) in particular have very little black, leading one to assume this isn't the base color, while a Sanke with a lot of black (Tsubaki Sanke) might be mistaken for black. The only way to tell what the base color is is to look into the fish's mouth. If there's sumi (black) in the mouth, it's a Showa; if there's no black, it could be either a Sanke or a Showa. Unfortunately, not every Showa has black in its mouth.

Cartridge

The clearest distinction can be made based on pattern. In the article " Buying Koi Part 4, " I explained the different types of patterns that can occur on koi. A Sanke has a black pattern consisting of small spots, while a Showa has much larger black areas that extend from below the lateral line, resembling mountain peaks, onto the back. A Showa therefore has black below the lateral line, while in Sanke, sumi generally only appears above the lateral line. Furthermore, sumi generally does not appear on the head of a Sanke (with some exceptions), while a Showa should have sumi on its head.

The final distinction that can be made concerns the black that occurs in the pectoral fins of Sanke and Showa. There are also Sanke and Showa without black in the pectoral fins, but if it is present, it appears as black stripes in Sanke (Tetjime), while in Showa, the pectoral fin is primarily black at its base (Motoguro). The base refers to the point where the fin connects to the body.

Doubtful cases

Because Sanke and Showa are increasingly being crossed to combine the best of both worlds in a single fish, distinguishing between the two can sometimes be difficult. There are always specimens that fall somewhere in between. These can certainly be beautiful fish in their own right, but they won't score highly at a show. After all, they're not clearly representative of their show class. But if you think she's beautiful...who cares?

Author: Joop van Tol (www.koitoday.nl)