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Koiteen: I think there is general agreement that the ancestral carp from which koi arose can be traced back to Persia. .... very ancient Persia. The carp was spread as a food fish across Europe and Asia. In medieval times in Europe, they were kept in ponds at monasteries to supplement the diet of monks. The ancient Romans are known to have carried carp with them in military campaigns in Asia Minor. So, with carp being dispersed by people across wide areas, different populations of carp acquired different traits. I have always thought it interesting that the germanic and slavic peoples of Europe developed a food carp known for its bulk, and then scaleless ones easier to clean for cooking; while in China the colored carp arose among food carp. There are stories of colored carp being presented as special gifts to esteemed members of nobles' courts in ancient China, but it is not so clear that they were being kept as ornamental fish. Rather, they were probably eaten. .... sorta like choosing the piece of candy that has a different color? All the candy tastes the same, but the one that's different is special.
Then as DickB explains, all those separated gene pools came back together when German carp were introduced into Japanese koi breeding. We think of globalization of the world economy as a new development of the 21st Century, but it has been a global economy for thousands of years. Modern communications just make it all happen so much more quickly now.
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