| Mike, I'm with you! I absolutely take all observations and antecdotal evidence to the old brain's storage cabinet! In fact, and I think you know this, one of my FAVORITE hobbies is to question several breeders on a subject and then spend the rest of the year trying to match the science to their observations- fun stuff!
In the case of sumi, and the difference between sanke sumi and showa sumi ( less and less every year I think?) is location and formation characteristics. In showa, the sumi is at the base of the dermis and the surface. It is a layer of cells and arranged as a base sheet of color. In sanke, sumi are a series of stars that congragate around fat cells within the dermis. So naturally these things are effected by factors other than genetics. In the case of sanke you must have good clear dermis with fatty globular cells and you have a concentration of black stars ( kinda like the number of pixils in a TV picture or digital print). This is not the same as showa sumi.
The other factor is water temperature and oxygen levels and of course cool water holds more oxygen saturation potential than warm water. And having seen shiro in tropical conditions and in temperate conditons, I can add some antecdotal information of my own-- Shiro Utsuri never look better and more vivid in color than when they are in color clear water. The shiro ground looks better and the sumi looks thicker. JR |