Pyjama Shark (Return to Isle of Jaws by Discovery Science)

Hard to believe it’s already Shark Week again! And while I don’t usually follow the TV version, it’s always a good time to pull out something shark related from the collection and celebrate this awesome group of animals. For my contribution, I am going to look at a figure from a Discovery Science set called Return to Isle of Jaws that was made in conjunction with a Shark Week show of the same name. In fact, several years back I posted about a figure from the sister set, Alien Sharks, with a figure of a dark ghostshark. I was less than enthusiastic about how that figure turned out–let’s see what this one is like.

The figure (and species) I am looking at here is the pyjama shark (or striped catshark) Poroderma africanum. As the various names imply, this shark is a member of the catshark family Scyliorhinidae, the catsahrks (a relative of which was discussed in a previous Shark Week post!), this shark has distinct stripes that look like pyjamas (I guess) and it is found in African waters. Specifically it is found along the southern most coast of South Africa, generally found in coastal waters in reefs and kelp beds that are relatively shallow, from 5 – 100 metres deep. They generally stay hidden during the day, preferring to hunt at night, often in groups. They are opportunistic predators, taking a variety of small fish and invertebrates (especially cephalopods); they are also commonly preyed upon by larger sharks since they are small animals, up to a length of 1.1 metres (3.6 feet). They are listed as Least Concern, although they are often fishing bycatch (and sometimes treated poorly as competitors for smaller commercial fish…) but are also frequently seen in public aquaria.

The pyjama shark is notable for its distinct and colourful appearance, with an overall light grey body and numerous discrete, longitudinal black stripes down the length of the body. The lowest stripes along the sides are sometimes broken into separated stripes within the line. The body is low and cigar-shaped, narrowing at the base of the tail into a long, heterocercal tail with just a small lower lobe. There are two dorsal fins, both placed far back on the body, with the anterior one larger, and the pectoral fins are wide and broad. Pelvic and anal fins are present are also present. The head, like the body, is typical for a ground-dwelling shark. The eyes are cat-like and almond-shaped, the nostrils have longer, distinct barbels, and the mouth is terminal and slung far back. So…how does this figure compare?

Well…a quick glance makes it pretty clear what shark this is supposed to represent–not many species look like it! The overall body colour is a dark blue colour, and the longitudinal stripes are black; the belly is unpainted, but appropriate as the belly is usually whitish. The stripes are very asymmetrical comparing the left and right side–both in total number of stripes and placement of stripes. One side has two stripes down the body, with a third broken stripe along the edge of the belly. The other has two stripes, one along the dorsal margin, and the other one is split into a Y-shape at the head (which is sometimes seen in the real animal). The stripes also converge in a U at the front of the snout…but usually the stripes just converge in a point towards the snout tip. The broken stripes also reach into the tail but I don’t think that’s correct. There should be one stripe along the dorsal margin, and two stripes on each side, plus the lowest one that can be variably broken. Still, the figure is immediately identifiable to species.

Looking at the sculpt, it’s not too bad–the body is appropriately shaped, although being sculpted in such a straight line seems to do a disservice to the sharks that are usually curling and crawling through the reef. The figure is around 10.8cm long, giving the figure a scale of about 1:10, pretty large for a species that’s actually pretty small. The fins look good, except for the pelvic fins, which are too long and look more like anal fins (long base, shallow taper posteriorly). No claspers are present, so the figure represents a female (although no cloaca of any kind is sculpted)

The eyes, nostril and mouth are all approximately correct, although the eye should be more of a cloudy gold instead of the black pupil present. What might annoy many collectors…only three gill slits on both sides. Of course it should be five. I’ll admit that, given how ‘known’ this fact of shark physiology is, it is annoying every time a company messes this up (and it’s a problem from low end through highest end companies…it should be a given).

Overall, the figure is a fairly distinctive model of a distinctive and interesting small shark. There are qualms about some sculpt details but given the two sets overall, this one is probably among their better ones (damning with faint praise I suppose). At first, the colour bothered me; the real shark is greyish with the black stripes but this figure is distinctly blue. That is until I checked around for photos of the pyjama shark and realized that many photos of these sharks–down in the water, at night, among the reefs and rocks–gives them a bluish hue, and this toy actually captures that really well. The stripes could stand to be more symmetrical…and spaced properly…but again, for now, it’s the only pyjama shark currently available, and is pretty passable for shark fans until a higher level one shows up! And it definitely stands out in a shelf of shark figures.