Elephant koi

The elephant koi is an enormous, brightly-colored, aquatic animal. It is Kyoshi Island's main export and is fished for its meat, blubber, and oil.

History
Aang traveled to Kyoshi Island with the intent of riding on an elephant koi for recreation. In the bay, he spotted a group of fish leap out of the water, and latched onto the dorsal fin of one of the fish as it swam across the surface of the water. However, the koi dispersed as their natural perdator, the unagi, approached, leaving Aang to fend for himself.

Anatomy


The elephant koi are enormous fish, around forty-to-fifty feet long. Although mainly colored a light shade of yellow, broken orange patterns are prominent down their backs, on the tops of their heads between the eyes, on the tips of their fins, and in small circles around the bases of their tails. Variations of this color pattern can be seen on most elephant koi. While elephant koi are large in size, they are prey to the much larger unagi.

Behavior
The elephant koi is generally a docile creature, but when disturbed, it becomes frantic and disperses from its school. It can leap at least twenty feet into the air.

Connection
Koi are a domesticated, very colorful variety of the common carp and are closely related to the goldfish. Around two hundred years ago, the Japanese noticed the beautiful color patterns on some of the carp and bred them for these markings. The elephant koi share no real similarities to elephants aside from their massive size.