The oceans of the world are some of the most mysterious habitats on the planet. While animals like whales, turtles and rays live in the light, the deeper you go, the darker it gets, and the sun dare not shine on the creatures that hide in the permanent night. It is an area of the world that is still being uncovered to this day, and the life forms that have evolved there are truly bizarre. Here, we take a look at a toy representation of one of these, the deepsea anglerfish, courtesy of AAA.
As is often the case, identification is an issue with AAA models, but here it is especially hard, given the lack of knowledge about these animals. Most sites seem to agree on this being Bufoceratias wedli, an animal found between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic regions of the oceans. This does fall apart on certain aspects, in terms of anatomy, like the lack of the smaller lure and the colouration, being far too colourful for the dark brown colouration of the actual species.
One thing I do like with the plastic of this is that certain areas, like the angle and the underside, is translucent, allowing light to pass through. I did wonder for a time if it was glow in the dark, but it isn’t. Does allow for some cool effects though. It is a large model, measuring 5″ long and 2.8″ high, though to be fair, there aren’t many animals from it’s zone in toy production. It’s an open mouthed, angle forward pose, not the most dynamic, but I doubt you could do too much more with it, and looks good as it is.
In spite of it’s flaws, I genuinely love this model. It is very unique and quite charming, well worth deep diving into eBay for. The translucent plastic really makes it pop, and is a lot of fun. Definitely pick it up if you find it.
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Always thought it was an Atlantic football fish
I can see your point, does look like it. I went with the toy wiki listing for it, but even that had a question mark. It’s hard to say with these models.
I don’t have much claim in the identification, but AAA is notorious for mislabeling figures, even those cast from actual specimens!
I agree with this model being classified as Himantolophus groenlandicus. It shares far more anatomical features with this species than Bufoceratias wedli.