Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
The electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) is a species of knifefish, despite their eel-like appearance, that is native to freshwater habitats of the Guiana Shield of South America, with the Amazon Basin and Brazil Shield housing the other members of its genus, E. varii and E. voltai. It is named for its ability to produce electricity, using 3 pairs of electrical organs, which it uses to help stun prey and deter would-be threats, and because of this they have no natural predators. These fish can get up to 250 cm, with males being larger; males attain a length of 110 cm before being able to reproduce while females get to 70 cm.
About the figure: based on how the figure is posed, it is difficult to get an exact measurement, but I’ve estimated the figure to be at 9 cm, putting it at 1:8-1:27 scale for an adult specimen. Like all Kaiyodo aquarium figures, it comes with a bottle cap base, which is removable. This knifefish is part of Aquatales Series 5, which also includes the unique black-saddled toby and red emperors. Since this figure was made in 2012, and it was only till 2019 that three separate were described, I am identifying this figure as E. electricus.
The figure, as mentioned above, is posed in a curved position, with the anal fin undulating which helps give a dynamic pose yet still allow an elongated figure to fit within a constraints of a capsule without sacrificing length. Despite looking like a very plain and simple figure, this electric eel has plenty of fine details cramped in, which online photos don’t do justice. The pores line the head up and the lateral line is well sculpted with many fine details, and I only realized this while taking pictures that there’s a sculpted anus! These fish are basically a head with a long tail. The eyes and the nostrils are also nicely sculpted and there are no fin rays on the pectoral fins; however, but it’s forgivable for how tiny this figure is.
The coloration is typical of the genus: a dark purple-grey mix for the body and an orange-brown underbelly. Despite the eyes being really tiny, they are well painted, and I suppose it is way too small to give it a black-and-white eye, so Kaiyodo opted to give it a solid black eye.
I have no flaws with this electric eel figure other than the size, although it could work as a female as males are larger. Unfortunately, this figure is long retired, like the other Kaiyodo aquarium figures, and is only going to get pricier as supplies become more scarce. Despite being such an iconic animal, there are not any options than this and the Takara Tomy figure, so here’s hoping that Toymany or Papo makes a standard-sized version and maybe, they can be identified as one of the other two species.
Compared to other Amazonian fish figures: The Kaiyodo piranha and golden dorado and the Colorata arapaima. They all scale well except for the piranha:
Compared to a 1:18 scale Grunkle Stan, who will probably profit off the electric eel’s electricity:
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