If there’s a koi which gets the most attention among all its peers, then it must be the Goromo (sometimes spelled as Koromo). Being a crossbred fish, Gomoro generated quite a lot of interest among the koi enthusiasts, notably because of its unique scale color pattern. For example, if let’s say the dark shades only appear on the edges of the red color hi (in reticulated form), it will be known as Ai Goromo which is basically a white koi with kohaku pattern except for the reticulated feature appearing on it. On the other hand, if let’s say the hi (red) has solid black color marking amongst it, sometimes lightly overlaid, then this feature will turn it into a Sumi Goromo. There is also another variant called the Budo Goromo, in which the black and red color basically overlaps each other and thus becomes purple color instead. The effect and pattern are similar like what you see in clusters of grapes which is how the fish got its name in the first place.
Among all these three variants, Ai Goromo is always the favorite being the most popular and often the top winners in koi competition devoted specially for this group of fish. Let’s look at the combination of pictures shown below featuring the koi side-by-side so that you can have a better understanding on how to identify and spot out the difference between all 3 different classifications of koi. Note that, for amateur fish breeders, most of the time they will get themselves confused between Budo Goromo and Sumi Goromo and the apparent mistakes often happen when it involves a light Sumi Goromo whereby the overlaid black and red color is not that distinct and profound. Hopefully after viewing the pictures below, you should get more idea on what to expect from. In fact, not many people know about the existence of this group of koi but once they got to know about them, they will start to appreciate how unique and special the Gomoro koi fish are. Starting from the left picture, you will Ai Goromo, Sumi Goromo and finally Budo Goromo at the far right. Note that the example of Sumi Goromo shown here does not represent the actual reticulated feature but instead the areas of hi overlap with the sumi, with the black color prevailing. Some Sumi Goromo has the red hi appearing on the edges of the black scales instead.
Spotting and finding the perfect specimen is not always easy because sometimes even experienced koi breeders cannot be sure if the fish that they are buying will eventually become the champion Goromo koi that they had hoped for. In most situations, only luck can determine whether you end up the right fish and the main reason is because even a slight imperfection can turn it instead into another breed call Goshiki. If you observe carefully, most young newborn Ai Goromo will actually show a lot of promises and chances to develop into the perfect specimen but ended up becoming a Goshiki as the dark sumi (black) edge slowly appears on the white scales of the fish. On the contrary, a well-developed Ai Goromo only has the black or blue edge appears only on the red color scales. All these changes can take place as the fish gets older, so do not get disappointed if the Ai Goromo that you have put high hopes on turn into another classification of koi fish. Usually my advice is that in order to ensure high success rate to get the desired trait, do check carefully with the seller to find out whether the breeder is using high quality parent fish whereby solid white kohaku is used to cross bred with an Asagi.Other fishkeeping topics: Chocolate Gourami and Betta Fish Breeding
