Fish with History! Lobe-fins, Ganoid scales, Bony Tongues, Cartilage skeletons!

[OkapiBoy]

Okay then, here are some from my collection
The lovely Coelacanths


Others

[brontodocus]

Aaaah! The Kaiyodo Aqualand Coelacanth! What an awesome model.

[sbell]

Very nice Boki--the coelacanths are definitely another one in which I am missing several. I will get others up later.

The only ones I need to add are the Colorata Fossil fishes:

Old style:


New version:

[postsaurischian]

   The Aqualand Coelacanth is soooo AWESOME! Ain't you the lucky one, Boki?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

..... Hm, hardly anything left for me to show, but here are at least two:

Kaiyodo Enoshima Aquarium  Kidako Moray



I'm not sure which specific  Eel  by Yujin this is.
One of the more sophisticated members has to help me out here!

[sbell]

Those are really nice ones.

I guess I forgot about eels...there are lots of eels. I will have to organize for that one!

But I might as well add the not-eel gymnotid:

Electric Eel, Kaiyodo Aquarium Series:

[sbell]

And since the coelacanths came out, might as well round out the lobe-fins with the lungfish.

(Note: I accidentally put this in the wrong thread. Lungfish correction!).

As I complained about the arowana--where are the African and South American species? This time, it's all about the Australian Neoceratodus forsteri. They are of course very cool and evolutionarily interesting--but where are the Lepidosiren and Protopterus?

Anyway, here are the Australian lungfish that I have. These 'fish with history' are almost out now (almost)...someone is going to have to find some more! Or, more important--start making some more!

Yowies Series 3 (which makes sense--Australian fish from an Australian line):


Colorata Fossil Fishes older version:


Colorata Fossil Fishes newer version:


Toba Aquarium Series II (although I've seen it show up in other sets as well--the Toba ones get a lot of reuse!):


Epoch Living Fossil Collection:

[Himmapaan]

So many lovely 'Stute fish models! 

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Though that reference may be lost on most people... 

[Varanus]

Man I'd love a lungfish toy!

Here's some more eels:

They go along with that spiny eel Brontodocus posted earlier.  I think they are (L-R): White-spotted Moray, Dragon Moray, and Ribbon Eel.

I'll let some one else post the Safari and AAA eels.

[Jetoar]

Man I'd love a lungfish toy!

Here's some more eels:

They go along with that spiny eel Brontodocus posted earlier.  I think they are (L-R): White-spotted Moray, Dragon Moray, and Ribbon Eel.

I'll let some one else post the Safari and AAA eels.

I have this eel. I will share of this.

[sbell]

Man I'd love a lungfish toy!

Here's some more eels:

They go along with that spiny eel Brontodocus posted earlier.  I think they are (L-R): White-spotted Moray, Dragon Moray, and Ribbon Eel.

I'll let some one else post the Safari and AAA eels.

Are those Play Visions ones?  I have the set (4 eels + 4 sea snakes) but they don't look like that:
Dragon moray:


Leopard Moray:


Blue Ribbon moray eel:


And just to round them out, Spiny eel:

(although it appears that mine now has a cat bite in it )

Looking at the pictures, they could be repaints or knock offs--are yours marked with a PV on them?

And I really will get to other eels soon enough...just takes time.

[AnimalToyForum]

Thought this would be a good place to share my review of the Wild Safari Coelacanth
http://www.dinotoyblog.com/2010/08/08/coelacanth-wild-safari-by-safari-ltd/

[sbell]

Well, here is another group, probably the last sort-of appropriate one--the elopomorphs.  Once again, we are dealing with a fairly large group that has some representation (more than Japan for once!) but leaves out so many interesting other fishes like tarpons, bonefish, and weird fish like halosaurs.

And all we get are eels and pelican eels. Although those are pretty good.  Mostly morays, of course. It is still surprising how few of the potential species are made; I have most that I know of (except a couple recent Kaiyodo morays, because they always seem to be over $20, and I won't pay that...).  But I am interested to see how many others there are.

I also don't know if I'll get them all in one post, there are quite a few. I'll start with the true eels, but I think I'll leave the morays to a separate one.

Freshwater eels:
Bullyland European eel:


Kaiyodo ChocoQ Giant mottled eel:


Yujin Freshwater Species Series II Japanese eel:


Conger eels:
Yujin Seawater Fish Pictorial Book 2 Conger eel:


Garden eels:
Colorata Coral Reef Fish Spotted Garden eels:


Epoch 'Life account of the Trip' Spotted Garden eel:


Epoch 'Life account of the Trip' Splendid Garden eel:


Pike Conger eels:
Kaiyodo Kyoto Aquarium series Pike Conger (again, food fish get attention!):

[sbell]

Double post, just for the muaenid eels (mostly morays). I babbled enough before, so on to the fish:

And these ones I know I'm missing some.

Chain Moray Echidna

Soft rubber K&M International

Dragon Moray Enchelycore (not sure why these aren't made more):

Soft rubber K&M International, Kaiyodo Capsule Aquarium series 3, Play Visions Eels & Sea snakes (yeah, again).

Banded moray Gymnothorax enigmaticus:

Both from FUL, but in differeny-size sets. A cheap-type company, but a decent range of sea life.

Brown moray Gymnothorax unicolor:

UK Yowies

Giant moray Gymnothorax isingteena aka G. melanospilous:

Yujin Toba Aquarium secret figure; also seen as a secret figure with one of the saltwater fish sets. And note the cleaner wrasse!

Green moray Gymnothorax funebris (given its familiarity, you'd expect to see it more):

Wild Safari Incredible Creatures, WS Ocean life toob, K&M pencil topper!

Kidako moray Gymnothorax kidako:

Kaiyodo Enoshima Aquarium

Leopard moray Gymnothorax javanicus:

Play Visions Eels & Sea snakes

Blue ribbon eel Rinomuraena quaesita (not exactly a moray, but a muraenid!):

Colorata Coral Reef; Kaiyodo Capsule Aquarium series II, Soft rubber K&M International; Play Visions Eels & Sea snakes

[brontodocus]

Hehe, the Ribbon Eel seems to be quite popular among figure companies. No wonder, given the striking colour, especially of the adult males!

Oh, I've just seen your K&M Ribbon Eel seems to be the same sculpt as this one here:

Only this time it's apparently meant to be Gymnothorax funebris again. Is yours made of a very soft material, too? Ah, I guess your other K&M Dragon & Chain morays seem to be the same sculpt, too?

Smaller pictures but larger figure, here is the AAA Moray Eel:


...which is apparently cast from a real specimen much like the AAA lizards. The colouration doesn't really match any existing moray species (although e.g. Echidna nocturna and several Gymnothorax species come close). Length 571 mm.

[Jetoar]

Cool figure. Is the first time that I see this amazing figure  .

[sbell]

yeah, the K&M series, like many of their soft and rubber sets, used the same mould but different paint schemes.  The ribbon eel looks the strangest this way; the body shape is so inappropriate.

And I know of that AAA one--when I worked in a fish store 15 years ago we brought some in just for fun (and sale, if anyone wanted one).  I never did buy one, but I probably would have sold it by now if I did. I didn't really look close enough to appreciate it at the time.

[postsaurischian]

Ooohh, amazing! Love the Yujin Toba Aquarium Giant Moray .

[sbell]

Ooohh, amazing! Love the Yujin Toba Aquarium Giant Moray .

It's a really nice one. An interesting thing about it, when it was available as the Secret with the Saltwater Fish book, it was always very expensive (>$20); when I got it as the Toba figure it was far less.

And yet it is the exact same figure.

One other thing--I listed out what I have, but I know there are other figures out there--for example, the Aqualand silver arowana. Anyone here have one to add (it would be nice to get at least one Osteoglossum on here, and I don't foresee being able to source one myself anytime soon).

If I get really motivated, I might try and list everything that fits this category. Then we'd know what's around, and what is missing (plus, if it comes up, we might have an idea of what to ask a company for!).  I know the 'rules' behind this thread are pretty loose (lungfish, eels, sturgeons and arowana are pretty disparate) but as a group they kind of fit together as unusual fish with a long evolutionary history on top of unique morphology.

And yeah, the list is kind of selfish, because I always want to know what I'm missing!

[Varanus]

Looking at the pictures, they could be repaints or knock offs--are yours marked with a PV on them?

They are numbered, but are not marked PV, so I guess they're knock offs.

Smaller pictures but larger figure, here is the AAA Moray Eel:

...which is apparently cast from a real specimen much like the AAA lizards. The colouration doesn't really match any existing moray species (although e.g. Echidna nocturna and several Gymnothorax species come close). Length 571 mm.

Colors aside, could this be a Viper Moray (Enchelynassa formosa)?

[sbell]

Looking at the pictures, they could be repaints or knock offs--are yours marked with a PV on them?

They are numbered, but are not marked PV, so I guess they're knock offs.

Smaller pictures but larger figure, here is the AAA Moray Eel:

...which is apparently cast from a real specimen much like the AAA lizards. The colouration doesn't really match any existing moray species (although e.g. Echidna nocturna and several Gymnothorax species come close). Length 571 mm.

Colors aside, could this be a Viper Moray (Enchelynassa formosa)?

I think you are probably right. Which makes me sadder that I didn't get one (but maybe--just maybe--I can rectify that this Xmas season).