Species identification thread (animal toys)

[brontodocus]

Does anyone know the species for the fish from the Safari ltd. Deep Sea toob? The figures only have common names applied to them and other than the isopod I haven't found any specific ID's for them.

Not all of them are identifiable any further than family level. And some have considerable inaccuracies. This is my interpretation of the other figures from the toob:

Gulper Eel - not a Gulper Eel (Saccopharynx sp.) but once again a Pelican Eel, Eurypharynx pelecanoides.
Glass Squid - this is not an adult but a juvenile stage (specifically a paralarva) of an unidentified member of the family Cranchiidae.
Angler Fish - a Black Seadevil (genus Melanocetus), very likely meant to represent the Humpback Anglerfish Melanocetus johnsonii. Although the figure is a bit too much flattened laterally to properly match M. johnsonii I'd say this is still the most accurate figure of the entire set.
Hatchet Fish - A generic and weird looking rendition of, well, a deep-sea Hatchetfish, family Sternoptychidae. It doesn't match any known species properly so further identification is futile.
Viper Fish - not a Viperfish but apparently meant to be a generic Sabertooth fish, family Evermannellidae. Interesting since this is probably the only figure representing that family that has ever been made.
Dragon Fish - a Barbeled Dragonfish, genus Idiacanthus. The three known species are identified by number of fin rays and the figure doesn't match any of them in this respect.

[bmathison1972]

Does anyone know the species for the fish from the Safari ltd. Deep Sea toob? The figures only have common names applied to them and other than the isopod I haven't found any specific ID's for them.

Not all of them are identifiable any further than family level. And some have considerable inaccuracies. This is my interpretation of the other figures from the toob:

Gulper Eel - not a Gulper Eel (Saccopharynx sp.) but once again a Pelican Eel, Eurypharynx pelecanoides.
Glass Squid - this is not an adult but a juvenile stage (specifically a paralarva) of an unidentified member of the family Cranchiidae.
Angler Fish - a Black Seadevil (genus Melanocetus), very likely meant to represent the Humpback Anglerfish Melanocetus johnsonii. Although the figure is a bit too much flattened laterally to properly match M. johnsonii I'd say this is still the most accurate figure of the entire set.
Hatchet Fish - A generic and weird looking rendition of, well, a deep-sea Hatchetfish, family Sternoptychidae. It doesn't match any known species properly so further identification is futile.
Viper Fish - not a Viperfish but apparently meant to be a generic Sabertooth fish, family Evermannellidae. Interesting since this is probably the only figure representing that family that has ever been made.
Dragon Fish - a Barbeled Dragonfish, genus Idiacanthus. The three known species are identified by number of fin rays and the figure doesn't match any of them in this respect.

...and the isopod has only 6 pairs of legs! I didnt know the others well enough to realize how off they were too. Wow.

[brontodocus]

...and the isopod has only 6 pairs of legs! I didnt know the others well enough to realize how off they were too. Wow.

Well, if we want to be generous we can say it's a manca, the first instar after hatching which lacks the 7th pair of walking legs. But as a manca stage even B. giganteus would be quite tiny.

[stargatedalek]

Thanks for the help, I'm in the process of repainting the isopod and I was wondering if any of the others would also benefit from a quick touching up.

I did a tad bit of digging on my own and I think I found what might be the very image that was referenced for the hatchetfish:

It seems to be an unusual colour form of Argyropelecus aculeatus. Possibly the strange colours are a result of its death, I know some pretty nasty things happen internally when an animal gets dragged to the surface.

I'd say it and the anglerfish are both great representations of dead members of their respective species, allowing for some degree of change to shape given the general state of specimens obtained from such depths, and in the case of the hatchetfish a rather damaged one. Or perhaps I'm just grasping here

[brontodocus]

I'd say it and the anglerfish are both great representations of dead members of their respective species, allowing for some degree of change to shape given the general state of specimens obtained from such depths, and in the case of the hatchetfish a rather damaged one. Or perhaps I'm just grasping here

The colour isn't an issue for me. The figure has three dorsal fins (one on its head!). It has no photophores (which might have helped in identifying). The eyes are not directed upwards but Argyropelecus have eyes directed upwards. So if anything it looks more similar to e.g. Sternoptyx. By the way, the retired, larger Safari Ltd Hatchetfish was officially meant to be Sternoptyx diaphana (that's what it said on the tag) but with exception of the eyes everything else (e.g. body shape, dorsal fin, arrangement of photophores) was more similar to Argyropelecus. And the gigantic teeth of the toob figure are not known from any existing hatchetfish.

[stargatedalek]

Thanks for the tips! It seems I have more work for this custom than I had anticipated. I think I'm going to stick with Argyropelecus as a reference since its a better match for the tail and the two dorsal fins that actually belong. Sadly I'm not enough of a sculptor to add the missing fins but I can get rid of the one that doesn't belong (and those teeth too), and paint on some photophores. I also have an idea to help the eyes look a bit more upward facing but I don't know if it will work.

[sbell]

Does anyone know the species for the fish from the Safari ltd. Deep Sea toob? The figures only have common names applied to them and other than the isopod I haven't found any specific ID's for them.

Not all of them are identifiable any further than family level. And some have considerable inaccuracies. This is my interpretation of the other figures from the toob:

Gulper Eel - not a Gulper Eel (Saccopharynx sp.) but once again a Pelican Eel, Eurypharynx pelecanoides.
Glass Squid - this is not an adult but a juvenile stage (specifically a paralarva) of an unidentified member of the family Cranchiidae.
Angler Fish - a Black Seadevil (genus Melanocetus), very likely meant to represent the Humpback Anglerfish Melanocetus johnsonii. Although the figure is a bit too much flattened laterally to properly match M. johnsonii I'd say this is still the most accurate figure of the entire set.
Hatchet Fish - A generic and weird looking rendition of, well, a deep-sea Hatchetfish, family Sternoptychidae. It doesn't match any known species properly so further identification is futile.
Viper Fish - not a Viperfish but apparently meant to be a generic Sabertooth fish, family Evermannellidae. Interesting since this is probably the only figure representing that family that has ever been made.
Dragon Fish - a Barbeled Dragonfish, genus Idiacanthus. The three known species are identified by number of fin rays and the figure doesn't match any of them in this respect.

I often wondered what they all were--it is an interesting toob, but it appears that with just a little work here and there, the species could have either been named or sculpted properly.

So here's a new but related question--opinions on the Cave dwellers toob. Some, like the olm and catfish, are pretty easily referred. But what of the inverts? They appear generic to me, but maybe it's my lack of familiarity with the group overall.

[bmathison1972]

So here's a new but related question--opinions on the Cave dwellers toob. Some, like the olm and catfish, are pretty easily referred. But what of the inverts? They appear generic to me, but maybe it's my lack of familiarity with the group overall.

not much easier. The crab, scorpion, and millipede are way too generic. The crab might be doable but I havent found a good match yet. Actually, they all are pretty generic, but the crayfish is most-likely the Alabama cave crayfish, Cambarus jonesi, and the spider might be the Kaua'i cave wolf spider, Adelocosa anops.

But for my inventory, I list them all as cave crayfish NOS, cave spider NOS, cave millipede NOS, etc etc...

[brontodocus]

We've been discussing the possible species of the Cave Dwellers Toob in the Safari 2014 thread. Here are my suggestions, top post below the poll. But, yes, most arthropods cannot be identified with certainty because there are many similar troglobiontic species. An eyeless, cave-dwelling wolf spider is quite unique, though, so the id of the spider as Adelocosa anops can be made with a little more confidence.

[MaastrichianGuy]

can anyone ID this dinosaur plated eel like species above and ID this ugly two nosed eel like species below?

[sauroid]

the first looks like a mastacembelid "eel" tyre track eel Mastacembelus armatus. the second looks like a leaf nosed moray eel Rhinomuraena

[MaastrichianGuy]

can anyone ID this species of snake with yellow skin color and brown spots

[Newt]

Totally generic snake. The sculpt might have been intended as a king cobra, with the slabby, angular head with big shields, but more likely it's just a "snake". The mandibular fangs are a tip off that the sculptor was not too familiar with actual snake anatomy. Snakes ain't cats!

[MaastrichianGuy]

can anyone ID these two snake species one with orange skin with black stripes and the other with black skin with white stripes

[Newt]

The bottom one has the colors of a banded sea krait on a generic snake body. The top one looks vaguely like an asp, or maybe a smooth snake.

[sbell]

the first looks like a mastacembelid "eel" tyre track eel Mastacembelus armatus. the second looks like a leaf nosed moray eel Rhinomuraena

Those are knockoffs of the Play Visions spiny eel and ribbon eel. The originals are nicer but I would love to find a spare spiny eel!

[MaastrichianGuy]

here are the last two snakes i need to ID i need the light blue one with stripes above identified and the one with green skin and white stripes below identified

[sauroid]

the first looks like a mastacembelid "eel" tyre track eel Mastacembelus armatus. the second looks like a leaf nosed moray eel Rhinomuraena

Those are knockoffs of the Play Visions spiny eel and ribbon eel. The originals are nicer but I would love to find a spare spiny eel!

i'd love to see pics of the original PV ones if you have them. thanks.

[sbell]

the first looks like a mastacembelid "eel" tyre track eel Mastacembelus armatus. the second looks like a leaf nosed moray eel Rhinomuraena

Those are knockoffs of the Play Visions spiny eel and ribbon eel. The originals are nicer but I would love to find a spare spiny eel!

i'd love to see pics of the original PV ones if you have them. thanks.

Spiny eel:


Ribbon eel:

[sauroid]

thanks sbell. the originals look like the fish they are actually representing.