Pelagic Fish

brontodocus · April 20, 2013, 11:42:08 PM

Walk-around of the new Safari Ltd Wild Safari Sealife Sunfish, Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758). Before this greatly anticipated (at least by me) new addition to the WS Sealife series there were apparently only a few Japanese companies (Kaiyodo, Furuta, and Colorata) that made figures representing this remarkable fish, probably the heaviest extant bony fish in the world. Since it's a poor swimmer and is more transported by drifting in water currents than by active swimming it would technically qualifiy to be regarded as a planctonic organism if you wish so. Total length is 80 mm and height from tip of dorsal fin to tip of anal fin is 100 mm, so the scale would be approx. 1:23 - 42. The human figures are approx. 1:32 (diver from Safari Ltd. Coral Reef Toob) and 1:41 - 1:46 scale ("Grandpa" by Tristan Bethe available through shapeways). The stand is sold separately and I would say it is not just an optional item but rather something the figure should not go without. While I greatly appreciate that Safari Ltd made a fully removable stand I think it would have been better if both were sold as a set rather than as two individually selling units, people might pass on the stand and regret getting it later since the sunfish definitely doesn't look half as good when it's laid flat on a shelf. Here is a link to the Sunfish and its stand at Safari Ltd's website: http://safariltd.shptron.com/p/sunfish http://safariltd.shptron.com/p/sunfish-stand

Edit 2017-02-07: Fixed broken image urls.

Jetoar · April 21, 2013, 02:27:13 PM

amazing figure, I like it, thanks for sharing again

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Ana · April 30, 2013, 04:10:25 PM

Very nice! And I like the info too

However I think, the base is optional because kids like playing by figures and not all of them display their toys on shelf, so it can basically lay in toy basket between one playtime and another.

AnimalToyForum · April 30, 2013, 08:34:06 PM

The sunfish is such a weird creature! We have one on display in our museum

brontodocus · May 01, 2013, 09:38:11 AM

Thanks, Jetoar, Ana, and Adam!

Quote from: Ana on April 30, 2013, 04:10:25 PM
Very nice! And I like the info too However I think, the base is optional because kids like playing by figures and not all of them display their toys on shelf, so it can basically lay in toy basket between one playtime and another.

Okay, thinking of it - as a toy for kids that would probably be stored in a box together with other toys the stand is probably not neccessary. But for collectors who want to display the sunfish in a shelf I'd say it's mandatory to get the stand, too.

Quote from: animaltoyforum on April 30, 2013, 08:34:06 PM
The sunfish is such a weird creature! We have one on display in our museum

I remember having seen a photo of it!

Sigh, nearly ten years ago I missed the opportunity to see one in the wild when I collected the samples for my PhD thesis off Galicia. Sampling took ten days or so and the research vessel always returned after one day and so we could choose if we go aboard or stay in the laboratory to sort our samples. The sunfish was of course seen when I was in the laboratory... $:-\$ I've been told it was a small one, less than a metre long, but still I was quite envious. I did see Pilot Whales, Globicephala melas, though, which were inquisitively swimming around our research vessel once.

KathyAnderson · May 01, 2013, 07:09:50 PM

Cool, odd animal is the sunfish.

Great review and i love the pictures!

~The Mandarin~ · June 19, 2013, 06:28:52 AM

This is the Japanese amberjack (Seriola quinqueradiata) from Yujin - Sea fish series. The figurine measures approximately 7cm long.

They are known as buri in Japanese and are typically seen at the fishing port like this:

widukind · June 19, 2013, 04:37:15 PM

A very interesting model for me

Jetoar · June 19, 2013, 07:07:20 PM

Cool figure. In Spain, we eat another specie Seriola dumerili. It is very tasty

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brontodocus · June 26, 2013, 10:31:22 AM

Excellent!

What is the diorama in the last picture?

postsaurischian · July 08, 2013, 05:22:00 PM

There's a small LED with exchangeable batteries in the base

compared to Kaiyodo's 'Aquatales' version:

sbell · July 09, 2013, 05:06:40 AM

That thing is bloody pretty. Although it would be nice if companies put less effort into gimmicks (lights, straps, magnets) and just made even more species!

Jetoar · July 09, 2013, 03:36:46 PM

Wonderful Sailfish, one of the best that I have seen

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brontodocus · July 11, 2013, 08:58:25 AM

Wow, magnificent!

And I thought the Aquatales Sailfish is good (well, it still is of course)...

Never heard of that company Aquameridian... I had to check... and found a set of six figures which I instantly had to buy.

Oh dear, oh dear...

The LED lighting is a bit reminiscent of the Kaiyodo Night Aqua Museum series. Although I'm not overly excited about extra gimmicks, too, this lighting feature is very impressive.

postsaurischian · July 11, 2013, 11:23:09 AM

Quote from: brontodocus on July 11, 2013, 08:58:25 AM
Wow, magnificent! And I thought the Aquatales Sailfish is good (well, it still is of course)...

I was thinking exactly the same

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~The Mandarin~ · July 11, 2013, 04:23:15 PM

Wow! Nice looking sailfish! I like the texture they did on the operculum!

widukind · July 12, 2013, 07:21:03 PM

A wonderful figure!! I have ordered any figures too for my zoo

brontodocus · February 14, 2015, 08:48:16 AM

An amazing new addition to Safari Ltd's Incredible Creatures line is the (Atlantic) Goliath Grouper, Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein, 1822). Total length (TL, i.e. including caudal fin) is 142 mm so the scale is between approx. 1:8 and 1:17 for a mature individual. The detail of the figure is amazing and at least the dorsal has the correct number of rays (11 spines and 15 soft rays)! The human figure is "Michelle the Underwater Adventurer" from the same line and the scale is approx. 1:12 to 1:13. While not the largest species within its family (the largest being the Queensland Grouper, E. lanceolatus) this impressive grouper can reach 2.5 m total length and a weight in excess of 300 Kg. By overfishing the global population has been depleted so severely that the species was on the brink of extinction and its low reproduction rate only allows for a slow recovery. The Atlantic Goliath Grouper is therefore considered "Critically Endangered" by IUCN.
Here is a link to the IC Goliath Grouper at Safari Ltd's website:
https://safariltd.com/products/view/incredible-creatures-goliath-grouper-figurines-265329

By the way, the IC Goliath Grouper is not the first representation of the species by Safari Ltd, a much smaller (66 mm TL) version was also part of the "Flippers, Fins & Fun" playset. Here is a comparison of the two versions together:

Edit 2017-02-05: Fixed broken image urls.

bmathison1972 · February 14, 2015, 10:50:42 AM

Neat fish. While I am not a fish collector, I like to see the 'less-than-traditional' taxa produced. If I was a generalist, I'd get both this grouper and the bass most definitely!
I'm interested in hearing Sean's thoughts on both of these as well!

sbell · February 14, 2015, 03:44:33 PM

Quote from: bmathison1972 on February 14, 2015, 10:50:42 AM
Neat fish. While I am not a fish collector, I like to see the 'less-than-traditional' taxa produced. If I was a generalist, I'd get both this grouper and the bass most definitely!
I'm interested in hearing Sean's thoughts on both of these as well!

I have the bass, it is indeed a great figure. I'm still waiting on the grouper to come in. I am not surprised to see that it is a larger version of the smaller box set figure from a few years back (which I of course do have).

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Pelagic Fish