| Mitch,
I have no college degree in a science that can answer your question...but as a student of nature I see how species always seem to have a certain % of individuals that reach sexual maturity faster and yes they don't seem to get as big, but that's not their purpose.
as an avid fly fisherman I spent many hrs fishing for 2 year old salmon and steelhead jennies and jacks that were 2-3 pounds and sexually mature. the 3-4 year stuff was more like 10-20 lbs. There were years when the run was
high in returns and you never saw these individuals. there were years where the return was small and the numbers of these jennies and jacks were abundant.
How does mother nature know to tell them? I don't know.....I think with koi
you buy an individual based on what we've learned here about head size and body shape and then fully expect it to reach it's potential if we provide proper feed and accompanyments..... |