Species identification thread (animal toys)

[Gecko08]

I usually check the synoptic collection, and I check the museum on STS when that Hallicugenia was showcased. I've started my modern collection with deep-sea fish which are on page 5 of my STS thread because I had a bunch of those from an obsession I had when I was younger.

[Gecko08]

I found this creature on Aliexpress and Amazon.



Amazon labeled it as Polypterus bichir lapradei

[bmathison1972]

Does anyone have the original booklet/magazine to know what the species of Kaiyodo Ryukyu spiny rat was formerly marketed as:

https://toyanimal.info/wiki/Kaiyodo_NT_Muennink%27s_spiny_rat

The above TAI website has it listed as Tokudaia muenninki, but @postsaurischian has it documented here on ATF as T. osimensis. There are three species in the genus and they can all go broadly by the common name 'Ryukyu spiny rat'

[Isidro]

I found this creature on Aliexpress and Amazon.

Clearly a knock-off of the Colorata "Fossil fish" set, Saddled bichir (Polypterus endlicheri), same position and appareance, just unpainted/simplistically painted.

[bmathison1972]

I have started an attempt to ID the small PV shells (the black cowrie will be sent later). Here is what I have come up with so far. Comments, corrections, etc. welcome:

Mini PV shells, left to right, top to bottom:

1. purple drupe, Drupa morum
2. Gyrineum perca
3. snakeskin nerite, Nerita exuvia
4. perspective sundail shell, Architectonica perspectiva
5. hailstorm prickly-winkle, Tectarius grandinatus
6. dusky cone shell, Conasprella stearnsii
7. black-striped triton, Septa hepatica
8. variable conch, Ministrombus variabilis
9. Turris babylonia
10. Cancilla heinickei
11. sieve cowrie, Cribrarula cribraria
12. daybreak cowrie, Palmadusta diluculum (not shown)

[Isidro]

Hello Blaine,
1: Drupa morum
2: Biplex perca
3: not sure on this one. Sculpt can pass easily as Nerita tessellata, but paintjob don't match
4: Architectonica perspectiva
5: Tectarius grandinatus
6: Conus sp. Maybe Conus stearnsii as you mention, I don't know this species
7: Cymatium hepaticum (I had to search this one, I didn't knew from memory)
8: Strombus canarium maybe, tough the paintjob is not exact match.
9: absolutely no idea on this one, sorry. Reminds me the family Fasciolariidae but not sure
10: I was about to suggest a Vexillum but the one you mentioned (and that I was not aware of) looks a better match. Both genus belongs to different families
11: Cypraea cribraria

"genus" Conasprella, Dolomena, Cribrarula and Palmadusta doesn't exist, they're respectively Conus, Strombus and Cypraea.

[bmathison1972]

Thanks @Isidro
I made some of your recommendations. I am sticking with Dolomena variabilis for number 7 (if you saw the underside, it is a better match)

As far as the 'existence' of those generic names, those are based on the WoRMS database, which is up-to-date on marine life nomenclature and considered the standard.

[SerAndrew]

Hi!
I found the following line of figures and I may be interested in the corals and barnacles if they can be  as actual species.

https://amzn.eu/d/7WPtKJL

(Sorry, I cannot post photos directly...)

For the red one I was thinking in any kind of actinodiscus (more an anemone than a coral).

Any suggestion??

[bmathison1972]

Those are aquarium decor. They were probably cast after actual specimens, but might not be painted correctly. The barnacles are in the genus Megabalanus. Also, they might be large.

[SerAndrew]

Thanks!
I know they are decor, that's why I feared they dont represent real species. I can repaint them, no problem with that.

Regarding the megabalanus, given the figure seems to be like 5x5 cm, each individual would be like 1cm, and I've seen real specimens really large, even 10cm or so (maybe another genus?). So that would make them 1:10, which is acceptable given my crustscean scale (mostly Yujin's)

[bmathison1972]

if cast from specimens, the Megabalanus could have been case from immature specimens. They have a very wide size range throughout their life. So you could make them 1:1 if you wanted.

[SerAndrew]

if cast from specimens, the Megabalanus could have been case from immature specimens. They have a very wide size range throughout their life. So you could make them 1:1 if you wanted.

Yeah thanks. I'm more interested in a much smaller scale to fit my other crustaceans (that includes several different scales as you know from the Yujin set).

Any ideas on the corals?

[bmathison1972]

I have started an attempt to ID the small PV shells (the black cowrie will be sent later). Here is what I have come up with so far. Comments, corrections, etc. welcome:

Mini PV shells, left to right, top to bottom:

1. purple drupe, Drupa morum
2. Gyrineum perca
3. snakeskin nerite, Nerita exuvia
4. perspective sundail shell, Architectonica perspectiva
5. hailstorm prickly-winkle, Tectarius grandinatus
6. dusky cone shell, Conasprella stearnsii
7. black-striped triton, Septa hepatica
8. variable conch, Dolomena variabilis
9.
10. Cancilla heinickei
11. sieve cowrie, Cribrarula cribraria
12. daybreak cowrie, Palmadusta diluculum (not shown)

Think I might have a name for number 9: Turris crispa or T. cristata (T. cristata now technically in Purpuraturris). At least Turris seems like a good start. I also considered Terricula and Gemmula, but leaning more towards Turris. I will check other genera in the family, too!

[bmathison1972]

More on shell number 9 above; I am certain now it's getus Turris. I found a revision of the genus: https://europepmc.org/article/med/23847408

and while T. crispa is still a good idea, I am going with the type, T. babylonia. The shape of the aperture and the notch in the aperture best fits this species (not visible in the pic above, however)

[Avian]

Does anyone know the species of goby that came with Kaiyodo's Amazing Animals Warty Frogfish? There are two color versions of the frogfish, each with their own color of goby.

[sbell]

Does anyone know the species of goby that came with Kaiyodo's Amazing Animals Warty Frogfish? There are two color versions of the frogfish, each with their own color of goby.

I can't remember the reason at the time, but I came up with the Pygmy Volcano goby.

It's been a while, so I don't recall if that's based on size, location or appearance.

[Avian]

Ok, thanks! After doing a little bit of research on that species it seems to match pretty well!

[Avian]

Is anyone able to tell which species these Kaiyodo Yin-Yang tadpoles are? These are from the original Good Luck Frogs set released in 2015, which includes species both endemic to Japan and elsewhere.

[Avian]

Anyone able to identify the sea lion used in Kaiyodo's new Naturetales set?

[bmathison1972]

not sure, Avian. I tried to do Google translate on the Japanese but it only came up 'sea lion'. The features separating sea lions are too soft to appreciate in such small figure.

the Northern Fur Seal is always a viable option given they occur in the waters around Japan, where Kaiyodo is based.