The Curious Compendium 2023-2025: The end!

[Gwangi]

A favorite animal of mine. I have the newer Schleich one but wouldn't mind having Safari's too.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Safari's was my first and only for a long time, but even though its pod has grown it is still my favorite of them all!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

And now, my marine eels!


Green morays are actually brown or gray and appear green underwater because of their mucus coated skin. They often hunt alongside groupers; with the latter hovering over the reef while the eel routes prey out of the nooks and crannies (this is currently undetermined as to whether it is cooperative behavior, or just happenstance). These morays can live anywhere from 10-40 years but even longer in human care, and can grow to over 8 feet long! It is not advisable to eat them as their flesh is toxic to humans.

I remember going to the aquarium in Newport, Oregon as a kid (the same one that housed Keiko the orca for a time) and they had this incredible tank with an enormous green moray in it. Seeing him swim around the edges of the tank and have his head AND tail out of view at the same time still amazes me. To this day it is a treasured memory of mine.

[sbell]

Are your only marine eels morays? There's so many others! Although most families don't have figures, there's at least congers and gardens. And one pike conger (different family).

And for all the eels I have, what is the stripey one in the bottom center right?

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Everything you see here are all the eels I have to date. My marine animal collection was on an extended hiatus for years a while back- so in some areas it is not as developed as other groups I have. But I hope to change that- it'll just take time!

That is a custom repaint meant to be a chain moray. It was a very cheap chinamal figure I was initially experimenting with- it didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped, but hey-

[bmathison1972]

I am really looking forward to see the marine fish start to come out!!!!

Not a bad moray collection. The Toys Spirits Moray Mascot Eel sets would provide a combined 9 species (the Kidako moray is in both sets, I believe).

[sbell]

I am really looking forward to see the marine fish start to come out!!!!

Not a bad moray collection. The Toys Spirits Moray Mascot Eel sets would provide a combined 9 species (the Kidako moray is in both sets, I believe).

It is, but very different morphs.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Thanks Blaine! You saw some of them in that ID thread I started. I will uave to check out those eel models- I am always open to suggestions!

Humpbacks!

These guys can grow to be over 60 feet long and 80,000lbs! The bumps on their heads and fins are called tubercles and may help them detect motion in the water. They can live to be 90 years old or older. They are one of the few animals who show altruistic behavior (meaning they do selfless acts for the welbeing of others). In this case, they will help protect other animals like seals or smaller whales/dolphins evade predators. Examples include mobbing predators or even boosting the prey animal out of the water on the tip of their snout (for hours!) out of the reach of the orca or shark persuing it.

[JimoAi]

that MBA humpback is still the best humpback whale. crazy to think it's 30 years old and still holds up like fine wine

[bmathison1972]

I had a hard time selecting a humpback. All of the best were really big; I am not scale-conscious but I didn't want my humpback noticeably larger than my blue! I ended up with CollectA's, which interestingly I don't see in your pic!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

The MBA is a splendid model; albeit a very large one. @bmathison1972, as ai mentioned before my marine life were shelved for years while I focused on other areas; and I am sorely behind on keeping up with CollectA! Someday I hope to catch up.

Great White Sharks!

These guys can have up to 3,000 teeth in their mouth at any given time! This species is oviviparous which means that after a 12 months gestation the mother will birth live pups. The reproductive cycle for this species is otherwise still very mysterious- breeding grounds, birthing grounds, and other details are still unknown. These sharks are surprisingly social also, respecting a strict heirarchy that often the large females dominate. This species dates back to 400 million years ago and also cannit be kept in captivity successfully as the stress of it will kill them when being deprived of their natural habitat.

[JimoAi]

Nice selection of whites, though could use the 2016 Safari ltd and the upcoming mojo one to spice the collection up

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Thanks JimoAi! I will consider those; my current favorite is the Toymany.

Swordfish and sailfish!


Sailfish are speedy- these top predators have been recorded reaching upwards of 70 mph!These fish can change the color of their skin; this helps them to confuse prey as well as communicate emotion to other individuals. They can live to be 15 years in the wild but usually only survive to 4-5. Their long rostrum/bill to stun fish rather than spear it; however being speared  by these large, fast, muscular fish is a VERY real danger for sport anglers.

[NSD Bashe]

Oooh I love sailfish, my grandma caught one many, many years ago and seeing it on her wall was always a highlight of summer.  It now resides on my wall and every time I see it I think of my grandparents and cousins and all the times we spent at the lakeside cabin...  So for totally unbiased reasons I particularly appreciate the sailfish display   

[bmathison1972]

I have the Papo sailfish. I think I like Safari's more but it's hard to come by these days.

Favorite made a very nice sailfish, but it's 'mini' so a bit small for a 'standard-sized' presentation.

[sbell]

It's surprising in some ways that there aren't more.

Surprised you don't have a marlin or two -- there's at least the Colorata one! Plus a number of other Japanese billfish figures (fun fact, they're completely different families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae that share a suborder, along with the moonfish that look nothing like the billfish!)

[Gwangi]

It's surprising in some ways that there aren't more.

Surprised you don't have a marlin or two -- there's at least the Colorata one! Plus a number of other Japanese billfish figures (fun fact, they're completely different families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae that share a suborder, along with the moonfish that look nothing like the billfish!)

The toy on the top right appears to be a marlin.

[Shane]

It's surprising in some ways that there aren't more.

Surprised you don't have a marlin or two -- there's at least the Colorata one! Plus a number of other Japanese billfish figures (fun fact, they're completely different families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae that share a suborder, along with the moonfish that look nothing like the billfish!)

The toy on the top right appears to be a marlin.

I think it's meant to be a swordfish, due to the lack of pelvic fins, though the overall body shape does seem more marlin-like.

[sbell]

It's surprising in some ways that there aren't more.

Surprised you don't have a marlin or two -- there's at least the Colorata one! Plus a number of other Japanese billfish figures (fun fact, they're completely different families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae that share a suborder, along with the moonfish that look nothing like the billfish!)

The toy on the top right appears to be a marlin.

It's surprising in some ways that there aren't more.

Surprised you don't have a marlin or two -- there's at least the Colorata one! Plus a number of other Japanese billfish figures (fun fact, they're completely different families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae that share a suborder, along with the moonfish that look nothing like the billfish!)

The toy on the top right appears to be a marlin.

I think it's meant to be a swordfish, due to the lack of pelvic fins, though the overall body shape does seem more marlin-like.

The dorsal fin is definitely marlin!

[Gwangi]

It's surprising in some ways that there aren't more.

Surprised you don't have a marlin or two -- there's at least the Colorata one! Plus a number of other Japanese billfish figures (fun fact, they're completely different families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae that share a suborder, along with the moonfish that look nothing like the billfish!)

The toy on the top right appears to be a marlin.

I think it's meant to be a swordfish, due to the lack of pelvic fins, though the overall body shape does seem more marlin-like.

The body shape and dorsal fin suggest marlin. I think the lack of pelvic fins just indicates that it's not a very good toy.