Back again with another fish from Takara, from yet another series. This one is the electric eel Electrophorus electricus (probably…a few species were separated from E. electricus in 2019, but this is the most likely species for the figure based on appearance and general familiarity). As the set name implies, it featured animals that shared the characteristic of being dangerous (to people).
Classification: Carp, minnows & suckers
Japanese Spined Loach (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first and second release by Yujin)
4.2 (6 votes)
This figure is the Japanese Spined Loach (or Japanese striped loach), Cobitis biwae , model 22, and number 7 from the second series. This is a small, long-bodied loach endemic to Japan, there are numerous potential subspecies but no distinction was made with the model. There are actually a number of similarly-patterned loach species in many parts of Japan, but so far this is the only species specifically identified on figures.
Amur Carp (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first release by Yujin)
4.2 (5 votes)
This is the Common Carp, originally labeled Cyprinus carpio, model 20 and number 5 from the second series, in the first releases. However, from what I can tell…it might actually be Cyrpinus rubrofuscus, the Amur carp, which is now considered the wild form of the familiar domestic koi.
Willow Shiner (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first AND second release by Yujin)
4 (4 votes)
This figure is the Willow Shiner (or in Japan, Honmoroko), Gnathopogon caerulescens, model 18 and number 3 in the second series. At the original time of writing, this was one of two species out of the whole series that I didn’t have. Then I was able to get both versions at once…
Note: with two versions, I am putting up photos as side-by-side ‘galleries; with release 1 (darker coloured) on the left, release 2 on the right.
Goldfish, secret version (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, second release by Yujin)
3 (2 votes)
This figure is the Common Goldfish, Carassius auratus, model number 17, from the second series. There are a couple of different ‘wild’ versions in Book 2, but for whatever reason I don’t have either one of them. Instead, this is the Secret domestic version, which is listed as number 17 in the series.
Japanese Silver Crucian Carp, secret version (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, second release by Yujin)
4.2 (5 votes)
This figure is a second figure of the Japanese silver crucian carp (or Langsdorf’s Goldfish, or Ginbuna in Japan), Carassius langsdorfii. As before, it is stamped number 16 but being a secret figure from the Book 2 second release series, it is number 17 in that list.
Japanese Silver Crucian Carp (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, second release by Yujin)
3.6 (5 votes)
Note – a lot more information has become available since I first wrote this one!
This figure is the Japanese silver crucian carp (or Langsdorf’s Goldfish, or Ginbuna in Japan), Carassius langsdorfii (according to Fishbase; earlier sources refer to it as the subspecies Carassius auratus langsdorfii ), stamped number 16 and listed as figure 1 from the Book 2 series, second.
Rosy Bitterling (Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book, Series 1, revised release by Yujin)
5 (4 votes)
This figure is the Rosy Bitterling or Baratanago, Rodeus ocellatus, number 09 from the first series (the Yujin paper refers to it as the subspecies R.o. ocellatus but it appears all subspecies may have been collapsed together—there is some discrepancy there). The Rosy bitterling is a cyprinid (carps & minnows) found in two populations, in Japan and mainland China and Taiwan.
Pale Chub (Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book, Series 1, revised release by Yujin)
5 (4 votes)
This figure is the Pale Chub, known in Japan as Oikawa, Zacco platypus, number 08 from the first series. We appear to now be beyond the salmonids; the Pale Chub is another cyprinid (‘minnow’). The Pale chub is a small carnivore that is normally found along eastern Asia from the Korean peninsula south to Vietnam.
Big-Scaled Redfin (Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book, Series 1, revised release by Yujin)
5 (4 votes)
This figure is the Big-scaled Redfin, known in Japan as Ugui, Pseudaspius hakonensis (originally posted as Tribolodon hakoensis, but the genus was updated in 2011), number 07 from the first series. It’s the first non-salmonid since the first figure, the Ayu , a smelt. The Big-scaled redfin is one of many true minnows referred to as a ‘dace’, which is not specifically defined as anything other than a type of minnow (kind of a pointless word then…).
Bonytail Chub (Marsh Education by Safari Ltd.)
5 (6 votes)
Today’s review concludes our series of reviews on the Marsh Education fish figures, commissioned by the Marsh & Associates Native Fish Lab and produced by Safari Ltd. I didn’t necessarily save the best for last, but I did accidentally save perhaps the most endangered for last. The bonytail chub (Gila elegans) is native to the Colorado River Basin in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah.
Colorado Pikeminnow (Marsh Education by Safari Ltd.)
5 (6 votes)
To the layman, minnow is a catchall term for any small fish, including the baby fish of larger species. But scientifically, a minnow is a specific kind of fish belonging to the families Cyprinidae and Leucisidae (which until recently was lumped together with the Cyprinidae family) and the size of the fish is not at all a factor.