Corals in Colour (Yujin)

Review of the complete set of the Corals in Colour produced by Yujin in 2005. The set consists of 16 small figures representing primarily stony corals; however it also includes two species hydrozoans that morphologically similar to hard corals. The figures are quite small, being on average 2.5 cm between their greatest points. Unlike most Yujin figures, they are not made of the usual PVC but rather they are stonecast made from a limestone-calcium carbonate. They all have flat bottoms marked with ‘Made in China’ and the Yujin name-brand.

These figures display well among other gashapon figures, but their greatest use among toy animal collectors might be accessories to marine diorama displays. Because they are small, I felt if practical to cover the entire set in one blog post. Also, because of their size and form, I will cover four species at a time in a single image. When names are presented in parenthesis, those are synonyms that figures were originally marketed as. On to the species:

from left to right:

• rasp coral, Pocillopora verrucosa: a stony coral native to tropical and subtropical Indian and Pacific Oceans
• hedgehog coral, Echinopora mammiformis: common species native to oceans of Southeast Asia and northern Australia, around Madagascar, and Red Sea.
• hump coral, Porites cylindrica: reef-building found in back reefs and lagoons located in the waters of the oceanic West Pacific, Australia, the South China Sea, Japan, South-east Asia and the Indian Ocean
• lettuce coral, Pectinia lactua: common in most reef environments in the tropical and subtropical Indian and South Pacific Oceans.

from left to right:

• intricate fire coral, Millepora intricata: not actually a true coral, but rather a hydrozoan associated with reefs in the Western Central Pacific, especially Philippines, Palau, and New Caledonia
• flowerpot true red coral, Goniopora lobara: large coral common in reefs throughout the Indian and South Pacific oceans, especially in turbid waters
• plate coral, Heliofungia actiniformis: solitary mushroom coral found in shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific region and is popular in the aquarium trade.
• fragile razor coral, Cycloseris (=Diaseris) fragilis: free-living, solitary coral widely-distributed, but not very common, throughout the tropical and subtropical Indian and South Pacific Oceans.

from left to right:

• Pavona coral, Pavona venosa: forms massive and encrusting corals in shallow reefs throughout the Indian and South Pacific Oceans.
• lace coral, Stylaster boschmai: another hydrozoan, native to waters around Japan.
• flowerpot, Alveopora spongiosa: found in protected upper reefs throughout the Indian and South Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea to South Africa to Japan south to Australia and the South Pacific.
• elkhorn coral, Acropora vaughani: found in shallow fringing reefs throughout the tropical and subtropical Indian and South Pacific Oceans

from left to right:

• knob coral, Dipsastraea (=Favia) pallida: common, widespread species throughout the tropical and subtropical Indian and South Pacific Oceans
• lobed brain coral, Lobophyllia (=Symphyllia) radians: found in upper slopes and fringing reefs throughout the tropical and subtropical Indian and South Pacific Oceans
• porcelain coral, Leptoseris amitoriensis: rare species found on lower reef slopes protected from waves, found in the Indo-Pacific region
• mushroom coral, Pleuractis (=Fungia) granulosa: uncommon solitary coral found throughout the tropical and subtropical Indian and South Pacific Oceans

In closing, this set offers an opportunity to get small representatives of several coral species, ideal for display and diorama-making. Because of their small size and limestone composition, they are not intended to be children’s toys. Unfortunately, complete sets are rare these days and can be expensive when they show up. When I bought my set on eBay, there were two complete sets. Interestingly, mine came with papers but it was half the cost of the other set which did not include papers (!?!?).