Top 4 Oldest Koi Fish In The World

Koi fish, with their vivid colors and graceful movements, have captured the hearts and imaginations of people around the world for centuries. These remarkable creatures, often referred to as "living jewels" or "swimming art," are a species of ornamental carp that originated in Japan.

They are renowned for their remarkable longevity, and their potential lifespan can vary depending on a variety of factors. These factors include the quality of care they receive, their genetic lineage, environmental conditions, and the presence of potential threats.

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Generally, koi fish have an average lifespan of 25 to 35 years, but there are some species out there that live much longer under the right circumstances. Here we would like to share with you the top 4 oldest koi fish in the world to ever live.

4. Big Poppa (>7 Years Old)

Credit: Houston Chronicle

Big Poppa, a mysterious and sizable koi, has resided in the pond at Discovery Green Park in Houston for more than seven years. The local authorities lack precise information regarding when and how Big Poppa initially arrived. 

Nevertheless, parkgoers had been spotting this impressive koi for several years, and it was in 2017 that the park staff truly grasped the sheer enormity of Big Poppa. In order to address a leak, Discovery Park underwent the process of draining the lake. 

This necessitated the capture and temporary containment of Big Poppa. According to Ren Mitchell, the marketing manager at Discovery Green, everyone was astounded by the sheer size of Big Poppa once they successfully apprehended him. 

Mitchell approximates that Big Poppa measures more than 2 feet in length and weighs over 20 pounds. Following his removal from the park's lake, Big Poppa was relocated to Nelson's Water Garden, situated in the nearby city of Katy, Texas.

3. Big Girl (>17 Years Old)

Credit: Koi Story

In the year 2007, the headlines featured a koi fish named Big Girl, recognized as the world's largest koi. Astonishingly, Big Girl tipped the scales at an impressive 90 pounds and stretched an incredible 4 feet in length!

Big Girl belonged to Geoff Lawton, who acquired this colossal koi from a specialized breeder in Japan. Geoff Lawton, the proprietor of the Rainbow Koi shop located in Wiltshire, England, proudly declared that Big Girl was the largest koi ever imported from Japan and that no koi of her size had ever graced British waters before.

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During that period, Lawton housed Big Girl in a dedicated display pool at his fish emporium and explicitly stated that he had no intentions of parting with her. Additionally, he remarked that if he ever entertained the thought of selling Big Girl, he wouldn't consider anything less than a price of £30,000.

2. Portland Japanese Garden Koi (>22 Years Old)

Credit: Flickr

The Portland Japanese Garden boasts approximately 50 koi fish, constituting one of the garden's most beloved attractions. This koi pond has been an enduring feature of the Portland Japanese Garden since the 1970s.

According to one official, a majority of the garden's koi inhabitants possess documented records and names. He also explained that the typical life expectancy for the koi residing in their garden averages around 30 years. 

He further noted that numerous visitors express keen interest in identifying the garden's eldest koi. While the garden's certainty on this matter is not absolute, they conducted an extensive review of historical photographs and identified a male koi that has been a resident of the garden since at least 1996. 

If still present, this particular koi would now be more than 22 years old.

1. Hanako (226 Years Old)

Credit: Timesnownews

Hanako stands as perhaps the most renowned koi fish in history, primarily due to her remarkable age. When Hanako passed away in 1977, she was believed to have reached the astonishing age of 226, securing her place as the oldest koi fish ever documented in the world.

The captivating tale of Hanako first came to the public's attention when her final owner, Dr. Komei Koshihara, delivered a nationwide broadcast on Japan's Nippon Hoso Kyokai radio station. During this broadcast, Dr. Koshihara shared the remarkable story of how Hanako came into his care through the maternal lineage of his family. 

During the broadcast, Hanako was already an impressive 215 years old, weighing 16.5 pounds, and measuring 27.6 inches in length. To confirm Hanako's extraordinary age, Dr. Koshihara sought the expertise of Professor Masayoshi Hiro, who was affiliated with the Laboratory of Animal Science at Nagoya Women's College. 

The professor embarked on a meticulous examination, wherein he extracted and analyzed two of Hanako's scales over a two-month period. Through a precise count of the growth rings present on these scales, Professor Hiro conclusively determined Hanako's age.

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