I've had this fish in my pond for the last twelve years. I got it at a pond and garden place near me that sells all colors and sizes of koi and goldfish. I'm concerned that this fish who is supposed to be an 'american' koi, is something else entirely. It was so small (five inches) when I bought it, and now it's so big (twenty-seven inches)that I wonder if this is some sort of cross bred carp. The size of my pond at 1000 gallons shouldn't allow any fish to get this big. It's not bicolored like japanese koi, it's orange and black brindled (like a dog). The pond place is run by different folks now, so any questioning goes nowhere. Has anybody out there had, seen or know what this fish might be? All my searching on the internet has proved fruitless.