Dark Ghostshark (Alien Sharks by Discovery Science)

So the call went out among us bloggers which, admittedly, I don’t get to on here very often. But the suggestion was made for a ‘Hallowe’en’ theme–spooky, scary animals that might fit in with the season. I don’t generally have a lot of ‘traditional’ animals that might fit the bill (rats, bats, black cats, gnats…I got carried away, sorry). So I went in a different direction, and found something with a frightening name! Specifically, a ‘GHOST shark’ (sometimes ‘ghostshark’), AKA ratfish, AKA chimaera. Specifically, a figure identified as Hydrolagus novaezealandiae, the Dark Ghost Shark.

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As far as I can tell, this is the first holocephalan to hit the blog, and…maybe a better model could have come first (but they are ghost sharks…)? Anyway, holocephalans are the living sister group to the more familiar sharks and rays (elasmobranchs, if you will) which have seen a bit of attention on the blog. Like elasmobranchs, holocephalans are cartilaginous fishes within Chondricthyes, but the two groups diverged over 400 Million years ago. This has lead to living holocephalans having some very unusual characteristics compared to what would be considered ‘normal’ for the cartilaginous fish overall (although given their Palaeozoic relatives, the group was pretty variable). They have a single gill covers (instead of the 5-7 gill slits of sharks and rays); long thin tails; small mouths with lips; erectile spines on their dorsal fins; rayed fins (instead of the more solid appearance of sharks); no stomachs, just a direct line to their intestines; and move using their large pectoral fins. They are predatory benthic fishes that feed on fish, worms and shellfish, crushing them with grinding tooth plates (as opposed to the teeth of sharks and rays). So how’s this Discovery Science figure? Does it represent the group well?

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This Dark Ghost shark figure was released (when I got it) as a tie-in by Discovery Science as part of some “Shark Week 30th Anniversary” promotion. There were two box sets released, Return to Isle of Jaws (which probably had a lot to do with the scary predator types) and Alien Shark, featuring more unusual, often deep sea sharks & kin. This Dark Ghost shark was part of the latter of course. First things first, the box lists species on the back with names that are not always correct. In the case of the chimaerid, it does not specify species and only says GHOST SHARK–I would love to say where the specific ID came from, but I have no idea (probably STS discussion or something); many Hydrolagus species look similar, and the figure is a bit generic. More importantly, the picture on the box is not even Hydrolagus. Or Chimaeridae. It is an elephantfish or plough-nose shark from the related Callorhinchidae. Not a great start (although I would love to see a callorhinchid figure). The figures in the box ranged from very large, 30cm hollow figures to very small, toob-set-size figures; many in between are kind of low-end Nayab style. And the attention to detail was equally varied.

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I will describe the actual animal under the assumption that this figure is supposed to represent the Dark Ghost shark. This species, as the specific name implies, is found off the continental shelf of New Zealand’s South island in the southwest Pacific. They are listed as Not Threatened by the New Zealand department of conservation. Dark ghost sharks are about 96cm TL, most of that being tail, which is long and whip-like. The fish is long and sinuous, dark grey dorsally with pale blotches and patches; the belly is silvery. Like many deep sea animals, the eyes are large and luminescent. This figure…isn’t much like that. Let’s start with the colour. It is a solid grey colour all around the body, including into the fins. And it’s not even a dark grey. The body is covered a series of small dark spots. And the eyes are small and black.

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The figure is in the middle-sizes within the set, about 11cm long, which gives it a rough scale of 1:9 (assuming Dark ghostshark, identifications will affect this). The material is a harder PVC-like plastic, and the figure is hollowcast (so it might float, but it will be awkward). The body is fairly short and almost bulbous, and is overall much taller than it is long when it should be more cylindrical or at least fusiform. The face is bulbous, and while the mouth is placed inferiorly, it is sculpted as the wide, u-shape of a shark rather than the small round aperture-with-lips seen in chimaerids. No gill slits or covers are present at all; in fact, the entire body is sculpted as one continuous smooth pattern, except for indents around the eyes and the ‘joint’ at the pectoral fins; the rest of the fins are sculpted as part of the body and undifferentiated. The correct fins are all present, but are solid, thick, and lack rays or erectile spines. The posterior half of the body is incredibly foreshortened, and while the body should taper, the tail is far too short, missing that characteristic long, whip-like tail. This one looks more like a polypterid tail or something.

I am not selling this figure well. It is most notable for being the only ostensible figure of Hydrolagus that I am aware of. And, not counting extinct Palaeozoic euchondrocephalan relatives, there are only a few other chimaera made, all of them the silver chimaera Chimaera phantasma (and so far all from Japanese companies). While I appreciate seeing any modern holocephalan figures, this one probably won’t suit the discerning collector (I am personally flexible, so it works fine for me, for what it is). It is also pretty big for scaling purposes. The set itself is of course no longer available–I was able to get mine from the US in a trade with fellow ATF/DTF member Halichoeres, but only last year saw the same sets in a local (Canadian) liquidator shop, but didn’t feel the need to get more. And there have been hints that the same figures may have been released more recently under a different set name (I think in Europe?). For super fans of chondrichthyans, a good set (some of the figures are pretty nice) but if I wouldn’t sweat it if you can’t get it. Maybe someday we’ll see a toob or mini-box set of these kinds of animals!? It would be scary to think a modern toy company would take that chance.