Amur Goby (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, second release by Yujin)

This figure is the Amur Goby, Rhinogobius brunneus, model number 28 and number 13 from the second series. This is the only Yujin true goby (Gobiinae, family Gobiidae) in the series. They are quite small fish, generally living on the bottoms of freshwater streams and brackish estuaries, hunting small invertebrates. They are unique in how their pelvic fins are fused to form a suction-cup to allow them to cling to the bottom in fast water.

Apparently, the Amur Goby is anadromous, spawning in freshwater, and then traveling as juveniles to marine environments to mature. Amur Goby are naturally found in rivers in Japan and China, but have been introduced to several other Asian regions as well as the Pacific Northwest of the USA; despite their small size the presence of the Amur Goby is apparently having negative impacts on the natural environment. They are listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN. The Yujin model gives a length of 10cm, although are more likely to be close to 5cm.

This model measures 6cm long, giving a scale of roughly 1:2 (1:1 with the smaller, more common length). Once more, we have a very brightly coloured fish. The base colour of the fish is a light green or turquoise with a sporadic series of dark blue blotchy chevrons-like bands along the lateral line, plus a few along the dorsal margin. Interspersed among all of this is a series of small reddish-brown dots in a few rows on either side.  The scales are deeply incised, which is a good representation of the large, obvious scales of these small fish. The fins are a translucent yellow with strong, obvious fin rays; the tail has a white margin on the tail fin, with a dark orange band along the inner edge.

Overall, the fish appears to be in some sort of display or fight pose, given that all of the fins are up and prominently displayed, and the mouth is held wide open. The pelvic fins are clearly sculpted to demonstrate the suction morphology seen in gobies. The head is well-sculpted, with the bulbous blue eyes and big round cheeks clearly displayed. Even inside the mouth are a few sculpted ridges, although the entire space is simply coloured pink while the lips are dark grey. The head is coloured like the body, with a base colour of green and a number of reddish dots on the cheeks, reddish vermiculation markings on the top of the head, and a thick horizontal strip on the top of each cheek. Like the Sculpin, the Amur Goby is a two-piece figure, again separating the head and pectoral fins from the body. This is also another Yujin fish without any base at all; again, given the given the bottom-dwelling habits a ‘swimming’ pose may not have been deemed necessary.

There are a few other goby figures out there, but I could not find a reference to other Amur Gobies; as expected, the other gobies tend to be marine species made by Japanese companies like Kaiyodo, Colorata and Yujin (marine set, which I actually have too!).

Starting on the 14th of January, 2024, I migrated my first Yujin Freshwater Fish Pictorial walkaround post from the Animal Toy Forum to this blog, with the intention of moving all species’/figures’ walkarounds here. The initial post contained a lengthy explanation of the series (both the original and updated) that I don’t think should be repeated each time! For those details, the post can be seen at the first post. Then we can just get to the fish. Most of the details and writing will come from the original post, although I may supplement/add where appropriate.

From the Forum:

• Jetoar: Awesome. Translucent parts is the best point of this figure
• brontodocus: Brilliant!  Nice to see the accurate suction cup that’s formed by the pelvic fins.
• sbell: I do believe that Yujin has mastered producing freshwater fish figures, beyond Colorata or even Kaiyodo in many instances. The care and detail right down to the fins is remarkable–and even better in person. Especially on these colourful little ones.