Crustacea: non-Decapoda!

[brontodocus]

Walk-around of the Takara Kaiyodo Night Aqua Museum (technically not a bottlecap series but they are also known under the name "Bright Aquatales" and Aquatales are normally bottlecap figures) No. 3 Common Water Flea, Daphnia pulex (Leydig, 1860). Length 33 mm, scale approx. 1:0.1. The Night Aqua Museum figures have a base with a black light LED powered by three button cells, the effect is amazing. I thought my entire set was defective due to battery leakage (I bought them in 2011 but they were unopened and the batteries were already inside the figure bases, everything was heavily corroded ) but it seems at least this one works again!

















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

[Jetoar]

Wonderlful figure and wonderful stand, I want it  .

[Ana]

Wow, that's really awesome figure  Congratulations for having it!

[AnimalToyForum]

It so cute!   

ahem.

[brontodocus]

Thanks, Jetoar, Ana & Adam! The figure is made of different materials, by the way, the carapace is made of a softer plastic than the internal organs. The latter are probably as detailed as is possible for such a small figure.

[postsaurischian]

  Why do I see this but now for the very first time?
The Waterflea is AWESOME! A piece of art! Thanks for showing it. I want it, too!

Kaiyodo surpass themselves time and again - Brilliant!

[brontodocus]

Thanks, Helge! I'm not sure anymore but I may have shown one or two photos of it at the Dinosaur Toy Forum Version 1. But that was of course before I knew that the black light LED is still working.

[BryantMorris]

Walk-around of the Takara Kaiyodo Night Aqua Museum (technically not a bottlecap series but they are also known under the name "Bright Aquatales" and Aquatales are normally bottlecap figures) No. 3 Common Water Flea, Daphnia pulex (Leydig, 1860). Length 33 mm, scale approx. 1:0.1. The Night Aqua Museum figures have a base with a black led light powered by three button cells, the effect is amazing. I thought my entire set was defective due to battery leakage (I bought them in 2011 but they were unopened and the batteries were already inside the figure bases, everything was heavily corroded ) but it seems at least this one works again!

Just awesome.. I would love to get similar stand.. So beautiful and thanks for sharing pics

[brontodocus]

One of the most obscure figures released this year is the Kaiyodo CapsuleQ Museum Animatales series 5 (Biwako) Predatory Water Flea, Leptodora kindtii (Focke, 1844). This figure is No. QMN-040 (Animatales #289). Length excluding furcal rami (the small appendages at the rear end) is approx. 57 mm so the scale is between approx. 1:0.2 - 1:0.3. This is apparently the first time a figure of this species has been released. Leptodora kindtii has a very wide geographic distribution which covers almost the entire northern hemisphere. It's a planctonic organism living in great lakes and it is quite common - although it is so translucent that despite its considerable size for a limnic planctonic organism it is often overlooked. The animals are voracious predators and feed on other planctonic crustaceans, especially water fleas (Daphnia spp.).














Edit 2017-02-06: Fixed broken image urls.

[Jetoar]

It is the first time that i see this specie  . Really curious and strange......  .

[bmathison1972]

Ha! I see with yours, the compound eye faces in the wrong direction too (at least wrong for how the figure is depicted online)!   

[brontodocus]

Ha! I see with yours, the compound eye faces in the wrong direction too (at least wrong for how the figure is depicted online)!   

You mean like in this photo?

The compound eye is inserted into the lower half of the head and the paint is applied on the upper surface only. So it will look good when viewed from above. The photo from the CapsuleQ website shows it in ventral aspect, though. But either they used a figure for the catalogue photo with the compound eye painted from both sides or it shines through when viewed from below (mine does a bit, but not as much as the one in the CapsuleQ photo does). But obviously the figure was meant to be this way because the dorsal surface was probably more important than the ventral one. In the real animal the eye would easily be visible from all sides. I'm sure it's meant to be that the paint of the eye faces upward.

[postsaurischian]

  Awesome walk-around!

Superb imaging:



....... exactly what I was waiting for. Now I can finally build mine .

[brontodocus]

Many thanks, Helge! I thought it may be helpful to give an overview of the animal's external anatomy since its strange appearance may be confusing.

[widukind]

Interesting figurine 

[brontodocus]

Photos of the predatory water flea, Leptodora kindtii, are back. Still one of my favourite Kaiyodo figures!

[brontodocus]

Kaiyodo Night Aqua Museum Common Waterflea images are back... Phew, I'm not 100% sure but it seems during the last few days I've restored all images in all walk-arounds I've ever made. Sorry for any inconvenience but it seems everything is back to normal now.

[postsaurischian]

I'm glad the images are back . It's still one of my favourite walk arounds.

Now go and re-arrange the DTF pics as well ! ..... just joking .

[brontodocus]

I'm glad the images are back . It's still one of my favourite walk arounds.

Now go and re-arrange the DTF pics as well ! ..... just joking .

Many thanks, Helge! Well, fixing the walk-arounds was one thing, at least all photos were arranged in special walk-around albums and in their correct order. Photos from other posts, either here or on the DTF are usually scattered around multiple albums without any real system. Unfortunately I can't see which photo was originally posted so restoring those will probably not be possible. Because if that wasn't the problem I'd probably go and try to restore everything.

[bmathison1972]

Walk-around of the deep-sea pram bug, Phronima sedentaria (Forsskal, 1775), by Ikimon Co. (formerly, Kitan Club) - Nature Techni Colour, Deep Sea Creatures, new for 2017. Phronima sedentaria is an unusual pelagic amphipod that usually lives at a depth of 1000 m (0.6 miles). It is predaceous on salps (a kind of planktonic tunicate). Females tear into a salp, eat the gelatinous innards, and then use the empty shell as a barrel-like structure to swim around in while raising its young. This figure, which comes within it's salp shell, is not only the first amphipod figure (to my knowledge), but also the first salp (although not the first tunicate).

The figure was in a set of 8 'deep sea' critters, including mollusks, arthropods, and fish. The other 'new' species in the set was another arthropod, the giant ostracod Gigantocypris agassizii.

The figure is on a key chain, and I removed the chain and cut away the plastic ring to which it was attached. The salp is 40 mm tall. I cannot stretch out the amphipod itself, as it's a relatively firm, single-piece of plastic, but it's roughly 40-45 mm, making it 1:1 for a large female specimen! The amphipod easily comes out of its salp, it does not connect to the salp in any way but sits loosely within the barrel. The hole at the bottom is narrow enough that it will not fall out easily.

The detail on the amphipod itself it amazing. It was hard to photograph for the walkaround since it's transparent except for some structures in the head. I probably should have photographed it over a black or dark background.

The amphipod within the salp:



The amphipod itself:









I hope recent issues with Photobucket don't prevent others from posting their new critters...