Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
With it’s bright colors of an orange head, mouth lined with narrow teeth used for grasping slippery prey, a brownish body decorated with spots, an ornate pattern, and, to top it all off, a pair of distinctive horn like nostril tubes that gave the fish its name and makes it stand out from the rest of its relatives, the leopard or dragon moray (Enchelycore pardalis) is certainly one of the most distinctive fish on the reef. These eels are primary found in the Indo-Pacific, in places like Japan, South Korea, and Hawaii. These eels get to a maximum length of 92 cm which is a standard length for their genus (Enchelycore). Like many of its relatives, it is primarily a nocturnal predator, preying on smaller fish and cephalopods; they themselves are in turn preyed by larger fish like reef sharks. Due to their unique appearance, these eels are quite popular in the aquarium trade (but do not appear as often as something like a snowflake eel). These eels always catch my attention at public aquariums whenever I do see them!
About the figure: this figure measures about 12 cm when outstretched, putting it at about the 1:7 scale as states on the leaflet. The figure is sculpted with its mouth open and in a curled-up pose as to allow the figure to fit into a capsule which it is packaged in.
This figure’s accuracy is spot on: the distinctive nostril tubes are sculpted and the teeth don’t look too off. The color scheme is a tangerine orange for the head going down to a tan-brown body with an ornate pattern of white and darker brown. White spots are scattered from the head all the way to the end of the tail. Even the interior of the mouth has not been sparred from detail; the extra set of jaws has been added as shown by the extra row of teeth, as well as there being some of the body pattern inside the mouth.
There are some noticeable seams on the bottom jaw and parts of the body to make it a complete piece. While this may be a distraction to some, I think it’s not too huge of a loss seeing as it allows the interior of the mouth to be as detailed as it is. This is a 5-star figure for me and I wish more companies make this species or any other eels in this genus. Interestingly, this is not the first dragon moray . Prior to this, Play Visions also made one back in the 1990s and in 2020 Eikoh made one for the Miniatureplanet line (although this Kaiyodo one is miles better in accuracy and aesthetics).
Like many other figures in the Aquatales line, this figure has been long retired and commands a hefty price in the after market. This wave of Kaiyodo aquarium figures was released back in 2011 for the Shinagawa Aquarium and in this line includes other rare and unique figures not made by any other manufacturers before and since like the Tasmanian giant crab and the fly river turtle, which with Kaiyodo’s recently released Xingu river ray and box jellyfish, gives me hope that more underrepresented animals will get figures eventually, maybe even Safari Ltd. may include these species in their TOOBs!
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