The Curious Compendium 2023-2025: The end!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

@BlueKrono, I think I have that turtle and sadly one of the spines broke off in my last move... I hope you can find one someday!

@bmathison1972, please be pedantic! I think this is a case of my being too hasty when taking photos (I usually do them all at once and present them over time)- my fish groupings for photos this round are all whack anyway- but this will be adjusted soon! Thanks for pointing that out.

[NSD Bashe]

@BlueKrono, that is a Bandai Kaiser (?) figure. Its a type of card game originally I think- I have a few sea animals, reptiles, and birds from this manufacturer but always forget the proper title of them.

I think it's Animal Kaiser if I'm not mistaken, I've seen a few of their animal figures in old or obscure listings but they rarely show up in the states

[sbell]

@BlueKrono, that is a Bandai Kaiser (?) figure. Its a type of card game originally I think- I have a few sea animals, reptiles, and birds from this manufacturer but always forget the proper title of them.

Ah, that set is so obscure it's hard even to find pictures of them. I've been on the hunt for the BK spiny turtle for some time.

The proper name is Animal Kaiser! By Bandai.

Variety of figures, some quasi realistic, others...less so

[sbell]

@BlueKrono, I think I have that turtle and sadly one of the spines broke off in my last move... I hope you can find one someday!

@bmathison1972, please be pedantic! I think this is a case of my being too hasty when taking photos (I usually do them all at once and present them over time)- my fish groupings for photos this round are all whack anyway- but this will be adjusted soon! Thanks for pointing that out.

Well, if we're going to be pedantic...

You have a Lontic cod (left, on rocks) and Yowies wolffish (blue, on right) and both are not tropical fish-- both are more temperate to polar fish and do not like the warm!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Touché! This is why I appreciate corrections- This sort of information helps me organize my collection better over time with animal groups I am less familiar with.

And as I said, my groupings for these were not the most thought out and it obviously shows. I will be posting these over on my fish ID topic sometime so any pedantic corrections are welcome! Just be kind about it I am a fish enthusiast but am very far from any expertise! And I have lots of other freshwater fish to show soon.

[sbell]

Touché! This is why I appreciate corrections- This sort of information helps me organize my collection better over time with animal groups I am less familiar with.

And as I said, my groupings for these were not the most thought out and it obviously shows. I will be posting these over on my fish ID topic sometime so any pedantic corrections are welcome! Just be kind about it I am a fish enthusiast but am very far from any expertise! And I have lots of other freshwater fish to show soon.

I wouldn't be unkind! Just keeping the fish happy!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Just to be clear, I didn't mean to imply you have ever been unkind @sbell! In my experience I have just had people get a bit pushy with their IDs or what have you and I may not always agree. But honestly, with fish I do enjoy them but admit I am still quite limited in my skill and knowledge with them.

Of course, fish can be pesky to keep happy. As a keeper of 2 bettas currently I should know. 

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Cuttlefish and nautiluses!

Nautilus have chambered shells that add new chambers as they grow (these chambers are how to adjust their buoyancy). Their shell stripes are unique to each individual! Their tentacles lack suckers or hooks, instead they use a sticky secretion to latch onto prey items. These guys can live up to 20 years which is much longer than ither cephalopods. They also have very primitive eyes that don't contain a proper lens- instead their eyes have light sensitive holes they use to navigate their world with. This is in part due to the fact that they have been around for 500 million years!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Bottlenose dolphins!


They have 3 chambered stomachs; the first retains food items until the other 2 are ready fo digest. They can live to 40 or even 60 years old. This is one of the most heavily studied marine species in the world. They are capable of altruism (which some say this also means that they are capable of "deviant" behavior as well), self recognition, language, complex problem solving, tool use and innovation!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Sand tiger, bull, nurse, gray reef sharks!

Sand tigers are the only shark that gulps air to help with its bouyancy. This species sometimes hunts in groups and has been recorded as targeting fishing nets for easy targets. This species has 36 recorded human attacks on file, but not one has ended up as fatal.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Moving into some freshwater fish species now- Salmon and friends!


Salmon are quite remarkable and are some of my favorite fish species (live, I actually don't like to eat fish/seafood :lol: ). Salmon are anadromous which means they're born in fresh water, travel to the sea, and return to freshwater to breed. They can actually smell their exact spawning grounds/birthplace from hundreds of miles away! They are quite athletic too, some can jump up to 6.5 feet. We all know they make incredible body changes during the spawn and many sport not only new body parts like a hooked jaw, but develop vibrant coloration.

Salmom have a special place in my heart because when I was about 10 or so, my school in Oregon partnered with the Bonneville Fish Hatchery on the Columbia River and my class got to "raise" salmon from their egg stage until they were transitioning into fish fry (between the alevin stage and the fry stage); at this point we returned them to the hatchery to continue developing and we enjoyed a field trip to learn more about it all. To this day I still really enjoy these animals and their incredible lives they live!

I do have another story semi related to this but it will have go wait a few more days.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Lots of dolphins!


The Safari Ltd. Pacific White-sided was always my favorite as a kid, alongside his spotted dolphin friend. PWS Dolphins are known for their speed (up to 35 mph) and acrobatics both in and out of the water. Pods are usually just numbering a handful, but "super pods" of hundreds or even thousands occassionally do form. These speed demons can gobble up 20 lbs of food a day.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

My group of NOT crabs!


Hermit crabs belong to the order of decapoda like lobsters but they lack a hard exoskeleton like true crabs. They are very social and enjoy foraging with their colony (of up to 1,000). While arguments can break out between them, they most often have a unique behavior where when one finds a new shell to upgrade to (since they grow bigger and need more space) other crabs will queu up and a whole line will make shell upgrades like they're in a conga.

[Isidro]

Hermit crabs are fully crabs, they are not in the clade Brachyura (the typical crabs) but Anomura, but for example lithodids such as Alaskan king crab also are not brachyurans but anomurans as the hermit crabs, would you call them "not crabs"? They have for sure a hard exoskeleton, the only difference is that they don't have sclerotized abdomen because they use a snail shell instead, but those hermit crabs that does't use a shell (coconut crab) have hard exoskeleton also in the abdomen and not only in cephalothorax and appendages!

[BlueKrono]

What is the little green horseshoe crab?

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I apologize for my oversimplifying my description perhaps a bit too much, but I only meant that what is pictured are crab-like and clearly are relatives, but are classified differently than the larger crab family.

@BlueKrono,I actually don't know the brand of that model, it was in a trade years back and I got it alongside my black and red fiddler crab and I think they are from the same maker. Sorry!

Blacktip reef, whitetip reef, and oceanic whitetip sharks!

Whitetip reefs are relatively small sharks at only 2 meters long. These sharks are generally considered docile and are actually pretty social within their species. They may pack up to hunt prey, or find piles of other sharks to cuddle with while sleeping in caves.

[Sim]

I find it strange how almost every company has made a blacktip reef shark, as the species is not very notable.  Perhaps it's because more noteworthy features of other shark species have become known more recently, and the blacktip has a distinctive appearance?  It does feel strange how in contrast the Greenland shark, which is one of the most noteworthy animal species ever, has pretty much no representation as a figure.

[Shane]

I find it strange how almost every company has made a blacktip reef shark, as the species is not very notable.  Perhaps it's because more noteworthy features of other shark species have become known more recently, and the blacktip has a distinctive appearance?  It does feel strange how in contrast the Greenland shark, which is one of the most noteworthy animal species ever, has pretty much no representation as a figure.

I would say it's probably due to the presence of blacktip reef sharks in aquariums. They're one of the more common "normal-looking" sharks that can be found in captivity.

[Sim]

Oh, thanks for explaining that @Shane!  I've never seen that species in captivity, only the sand tiger shark among sharks, so I didn't know it is common there!  I guess it is not be a new thing too, as I had a Bullyland blacktip reef shark when I was little.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I agree with @Shane, at least in the US, blacktips are very common in captivity due to their "easy keeping" natures as well as very recognizable features. I'd expect they are pretty popular in scuba diving type regions too. But I hope to see more unique species like the greenland shark someday, but that might take some time @Sim.

Trout!

Apache trout are the Arizona State fish and is only one of two native trout species (the other being the gila trout). The Apache trout was listed as endangered in 1969 but was downgraded to threatened by 1975. They are native to the upper Salt River and upper Little Colorado River in the White mountains. The main reasons these fish are dwindling are due to introduced trout species who both compete with and interbreed with them, as well as habitat degredation. Local Native American tribes as US Fish & Wildlife have made some gains in population numbers where they can now be fished in managed areas on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation (though of course, this is closely watched).