Well, it's worth 1.8 million dollars.

嗯，它的價值180萬美元。

It won grand champion at the All Japan Koi Show in 2017, and is the most expensive koi fish ever sold.

它在2017年的全日本錦鯉展上獲得了總冠軍，是史上最貴的錦鯉魚。

Koi may just look like an oversized goldfish, but they're not even remotely related.

錦鯉可能只是看起來像一條超大的金魚，但它們沒有絲毫關係。

Koi are actually a type of carp, and today they're some of the most expensive pet fish in the world.

錦鯉其實是鯉魚的一種，如今它們是世界上最昂貴的寵物魚。

But why?

但為什麼呢？

Koi were originally raised in Japan in the 1700s when rice farmers first began breeding them for their distinct colors and patterns, similar to how we breed dogs for their specific traits.

錦鯉最初是在日本飼養的，17世紀時，稻農開始根據錦鯉獨特的顏色和花紋進行繁殖，就像我們根據狗的特殊性狀進行繁殖一樣。

And just like prized dog breeds, Japanese people take koi breeding very seriously.

而就像珍貴的狗種一樣，日本人對錦鯉的飼養也非常重視。

There are regular competitions to name the top koi.

定期舉行比賽，為頂級錦鯉命名。

Judges and buyers pay attention to how healthy its skin looks, its size and body shape, and how gracefully the fish moves in the water.

評審和買家關注的是它的皮膚看起來是否健康，它的大小和體型，以及魚兒在水中的動作是否優雅。

But the most important trait of all is the koi's coloring.

但最重要的特徵是錦鯉的顏色。

The best koi have a good balance of colors and patterns according to their variety.

最好的錦鯉根據其品種的不同，在顏色和圖案上有很好的平衡。

For example, there are koi with light blue spots, ones with large red patches on their backs, or all-metallic gold.

比如，有的錦鯉身上有淺藍色的斑點，有的錦鯉背上有大紅色的斑點，有的錦鯉是全金屬金色的。

But the most winning fish often just boil down to these three varieties.

但最勝一籌的魚往往就歸結為這三個品種。

They're often the most valuable.

他們往往是最有價值的。

They dominate the shows, winning nearly every major category each year.

他們在節目中佔據了主導地位，每年幾乎贏得了所有主要類別的冠軍。

And the better-looking the fish, the more a buyer is willing to pay.

而且越是好看的魚，買家越願意出錢。

Yeah, it depends.

是的，這取決於。

You can buy some small and cheap koi fish for a couple of bucks, but also, yeah, it can get up really, really high to thousands, ten thousands of dollars.

你可以花幾塊錢買一些又小又便宜的錦鯉魚，但也是的，它可以漲到很高，真的高到幾千，上萬元。

That's Yvo de Wal.

那是伊沃-德-沃爾

He's a koi hobbyist and seller in the Netherlands, and he heads up the YouTube channel Koi Partner.

他是荷蘭的錦鯉愛好者和賣家，他是YouTube頻道Koi Partner的負責人。

Each year he visits Japan to shop for koi.

每年他都會去日本選購錦鯉。

The breeders are located there, and they have experience with their bloodlines for many, many generations.

飼養者就在那裡，他們有很多很多代的血統經驗。

You see, bloodlines are just as prized in koi as they are in dogs because some of these koi are the result of decades of selective breeding.

你看，錦鯉的血統和狗的血統一樣珍貴，因為有些錦鯉是幾十年來選育的結果。

I mean, just take a look at the koi's wild relative, the common carp.

我的意思是，看看錦鯉的野生親戚，普通的鯉魚就知道了。

Its dark colors would be considered unattractive for a koi, but it's perfect protection against predators in the wild.

它的深色對於錦鯉來說會被認為是沒有吸引力的，但它卻能完美地保護錦鯉免受野外掠食者的侵害。

So how do you get from this to this?

那麼如何從這個到這個？

Well, it's actually similar to how we got from this to this, except koi breeders mainly select for size and color and ignore... fluffiness.

嗯，它實際上是類似於我們如何得到了從這到這， 除了錦鯉飼養者主要選擇的大小和顏色，忽略... 蓬鬆。

Koi have six types of color cells in their skin.

錦鯉的皮膚上有六種顏色細胞。

Their cells can be red, yellow, black, white, blue, or metallic.

它們的細胞可以是紅色、黃色、黑色、白色、藍色或金屬色。

Now, in order to get a beautiful, reddish-orange pattern like the one on this 1.8-million-dollar fish, you need to select for fish that have a white body and lots of red cells that concentrate in large patches.

現在，為了得到像這條價值180萬美元的魚身上那樣漂亮的橘紅色花紋，你需要選擇那些身體潔白、紅細胞多且集中在大塊的魚。

Red and white are important colors in Japanese culture, representing joy and purity.

紅色和白色是日本文化中重要的顏色，代表著快樂和純潔。

But having the right colors is only part of it.

但擁有合適的顏色只是其中的一部分。

A koi's color cells sit at different depths in the skin, some right near the surface and some deeper in, which ultimately determines how bright the fish appears.

錦鯉的顏色細胞位於皮膚的不同深度，有的就在表面，有的則在更深的地方，這最終決定了魚兒看起來的亮度。

The brighter the fish, the bigger the price tag.

魚越亮，價格越高。

Today there are about 120 varieties.

如今約有120個品種。

To compare, there are about 200 breeds of dogs.

比較而言，狗的品種大約有200種。

But when it comes down to it, breeding koi is a lot harder.

但說到這裡，養殖錦鯉的難度就大了。

A single koi can give birth to hundreds of thousands of baby fish at a time.

一條錦鯉一次可以生出幾十萬條小魚。

I think we are talking about millions and millions of fish per breeder.

我想我們說的是每個養殖戶幾百萬幾千萬的魚。

So, breeders must choose wisely.

所以，飼養者一定要明智的選擇。

One breeder, for example, reports that he starts with 3 million fish and selects 15,000 to raise over the first year.

例如，一位飼養員報告說，他從300萬條魚開始，第一年選擇1.5萬條魚來飼養。

From that, he chooses 1,000 to continue to raise the second year.

由此，他選擇了1000元，第二年繼續籌集。

Yeah, it's a really hard job for the breeders.

是啊，對於飼養者來說，這真的是一件很辛苦的工作。

But in the end, all that hard work is worth it.

但最終，所有的努力都是值得的。

The breeder of this grand champion waited until she was nine years old to sell her at auction.

這隻大冠軍的飼養員等到它九歲時才在拍賣會上出售。

And by bringing in a world record of 1.8 million, the breeder got not only a huge return on investment, but a priceless reputation boost in the koi community.

而通過引進180萬的世界紀錄，飼養員不僅獲得了巨大的投資回報，而且在錦鯉界獲得了無價的聲譽提升。