Hello, everyone!

In this, our search for the 'key' to unlocking rare/uncommon/whatchamacallit coats, I'm a believer in the coats being carried recessively, the gene needed to be inherited from both parents. I could be wrong, of course, but that's the direction I'm leaning in right now.

To illustrate this, I'd like to explain how a Fellow of mine became a successful breeder of Kois and Emperors.

It started with a quite 'normal' Roo, an Autumn female. She had no partner and was coming into season, and my Fellow didn't want to waste the breeding cycle, so she went out and bought an in-season male for the female. The resulting baby was a Koi.

Now, Malevay tells us that random 'rares' can occur, if the lottery wheel (fuels by regard points) stops in the right place, and we assumed this was what had happened. However, the next baby from the same pairing was also a Koi. This supports the theory that the coat was carried recessively by both parents, and that the first baby was NOT a fluke.

Now, my Fellow began researching the background of her original Autumn female, and found that she had uncles, aunts, siblings, nieces and nephews to it. She paired up what was compatible in hopes of 'trapping' the gene, and she was successful. The first baby from her original Koi was an Emperor (more on that connection below), and she kept breeding the line. To date, she's had 4 Kois and 6 Emperors born from her line, the best one of them a Short Tail Clear Eyes Emperor.

All this from line breeding. Watching her carefully choose mates for her offspring and getting results has been very inspiring to me, and has strengthened my belief that coats, as well as ear/tail traits, are carried recessively. The initial pairing was a stroke of luck, her choosing a carrier to purchase for her female, but the following success is a result of a very good and clever breeding program.

A short note on the Koi->Emperor connection. This is not the first time I've heard of a species being the origin of a more 'rare' coat of the same species, and I think it's something that should be explored further.

I hope this was useful info for you all, discuss if you like, and if you have more questions about this particular example, I'd be happy to try and find the answers for you. :)

Be well!

/Gabe