Go Jump in a Lake! Freshwater Fish!

[brontodocus]

Wonderful figure! Both species, M. salmoides and M. dolomieu, have also been introduced to Europe.

[brontodocus]

Ah, wonderful! A channid, that's something still missing in my collection.

[sbell]

Wonderful figure! Both species, M. salmoides and M. dolomieu, have also been introduced to Europe.

I live in a place where they've tried, but it's just cold enough--so far--that they can't get established. To the west of the Rockies, though, I've caught various centrarchids that don't belong there, including largemouth bass.

[sbell]

Ah, wonderful! A channid, that's something still missing in my collection.

I know! They're such cool fish--and widespread, whether that's good or not?

There are really soooo many fish families that aren't represented in figures. Trout and goldfish are fine, but we need more variety!

[Jetoar]

Awesome replica as always  .

[Jetoar]

I didnt know that Yuijin had done a figure of this species  .

[sbell]

This walk around is part of my series of the Yujin Freshwater Fish series. Part of this will be repeating this same introductory and concluding info because copy-and-paste is easy, and it keeps things consistent.  So feel free to only read this once (or never...) as well as the stuff at the end. My main motivation is that Yujin does not have many walk arounds on this site, which is a shame because they make some great models. It is also an attempt to flood (!) the site with some fishes, because there simply have not been enough lately.

One other thing--when I give the lengths of the living species, I will be using the length given on the figure's paper for consistency. Some of them seemed off, but they seem close—often better than my original usage of the Fishbase TL (unless the FB one is more interesting...). When there are more than one, I will use the higher values. And the scales will be rounded and approximate!

So now, the fish!

This figure is the Bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus , number 26 from the second series. These are medium-sized relatives of the largemouth and smallmouth bass (Centrarchidae) that natural occurred in the US in many areas east of the Rocky Mountains. Like their larger-mouth cousins Bluegill are popular with anglers and as food fish, and so have been introduced to almost every continent—they are very adaptable, even capable of surviving brackish salinities. These introductions may have made anglers happy, but they are considered pests in many places that they have been released—and their inclusion in this set of mostly Japanese fish is mainly due to the massive damage they have wreaked in Lake Biwa. They can be adaptable feeders, primarily eating invertebrates and small fish but will not be choosy—another reason they can cause so much misery where they are introduced. The Yujin model gives a length of 40cm, which seems to be the largest size available.

This model measures 5.2cm long, giving a scale of 1:8. Like the Largemouth Bass, the Bluegill has a very complex colouring, in both the figure and the real fish. The overall colours of the fish is a light yellowish-green, fading from darker on the dorsal margin to white at the belly. There are dark vertical bands along the sides which extend about halfway down the body. Interspersed between these bands are thinner light-green bands that extend all the way to the belly. The fins are uniformly dark green; mine has the fins painted quite thick, so that they do not appear translucent like many Yujin fish fins. The head is a flat light green except for the white lower jaw. My model has a strange black mark on the upper lip, but I don't know if this has any basis in reality. The key colouring of a Bluegill—the blue or black spot on the trailing edge of the operculum—is painted a very bright blue or turquoise, with a black trailing edge; form photos that I have looked up, this seems a bit exaggerated, but does give a nice dash of colour! Overall it is a very bright figure—and a nice break for the dominance of the browns and greys of the Series II models. The base that this one is on is the brown large pebbles. Bluegills and their relatives do not show up much as figures; I am aware of the Replica Toy Fish 3" figure, but that may be it. There may also be other models, such as porcelain or glass figures, but I don't keep up with those.

Pictures:








I refer to this one as the bowhunting tournament pose--a hole in it, tossed on its back...but it's easy to see the detail that Yujin puts into every side of the models (and can often see the numbers in the photos). This is another one that I couldn't get the peg out of!


For those not familiar, the Yujin Freshwater fishes were released as two series of fish, for a total of 32 fish figures. This number includes at least 3 secret figures (whose numbers remain in sequence--all figures are marked somewhere with the number) but does not incorporate a number of re-issues and repaints; there was at least one complete reissue (from which mine all come so far). The original releases, from what I can find, had yellow papers; the second release used light blue for the Series I and black for Series II. The entire set, with all variants and secrets, is actually available as a boxed set on YAJ (for around $300!), but individual figures can be found there or even on eBay for a variety of prices (the secrets & specials are of course the most expensive). Myself, there are still two or three species I don't have, but I haven't put a lot of effort into changing that...

Another nice thing about these Yujin fish model is that, like most Yujin releases, almost all of them come with a natural base and acrylic stem to display them (the Series II has a few exceptions). There are 4 or 5 bases used, plus a few unique ones for some specials. When I received mine several years ago, the fish+acrylic stems were not directly associated with the bases, so I just went with whatever worked (so if you have one or two, and the base is different, now you know why--I couldn't find a way to be sure if the bases were specific). All of the bases are based on environment--wood stems, gravel, river rocks, silt+plants, that sort of thing. Most are monochromatic, but a few are painted differently (again, often for the specials). In fact, if I wanted to get really pedantic, the bases themselves are labelled with letters based on the style, but I won't.

[Jetoar]

Lovely replica of this species  .

[sbell]

This walk around is part of my series of the Yujin Freshwater Fish series. Part of this will be repeating this same introductory and concluding info because copy-and-paste is easy, and it keeps things consistent.  So feel free to only read this once (or never...) as well as the stuff at the end. My main motivation is that Yujin does not have many walk arounds on this site, which is a shame because they make some great models. It is also an attempt to flood (!) the site with some fishes, because there simply have not been enough lately.

One other thing--when I give the lengths of the living species, I will be using the length given on the figure's paper for consistency. Some of them seemed off, but they seem close—often better than my original usage of the Fishbase TL (unless the FB one is more interesting...). When there are more than one, I will use the higher values. And the scales will be rounded and approximate!

So now, the fish!

This figure is the Roughskin Sculpin (hilariously, the Japanese name apparently translates to "God of the Mountain!"), Trachidermus fasciatus , number 27 from the second series (we're down to the last 5! Unless I get the ones I am missing...). This is the first and only sculpin (Cottidae) in the Yujin series. They are medium-sized fish, inhabiting river bottoms and preying on fish and invertebrates. They are native to coastal waters and rivers in China, Korea and Japan. Like many of the freshwater fish we've seen, the Roughskin Sculpin is catadromous, spawning in river delta mudflats and then swimming upstream to grow into adults; they nest in any structures they can find, including garbage like glass bottles, where males often guard the nests. Apparently, habitat degradation has negatively affected Roughskin Sculpin populations, but I found conflicting info on whether or not they have an official status designation. Apparently, they have been considered a luxury food item, but not commonly eaten. The Yujin model gives a length of 16cm, which is about on average given the range I found of anything from 14cm to 20cm.

This model measures 6.5cm long, giving a scale of 1:2 (the scale factor is close to 2.5, but rounding! does things). The figure is another very complicated pattern. The fish is painted to be very shiny, representing the lack of scales of these fish. It is coloured light brown with dark brown markings across the body in an irregular pattern of spots, blotches and bars. The ventral surface is plain white, with some scattered light brown spots along the lateral margins. The fins are a translucent yellow with thick fin rays. The fins are covered with small, scattered dark and light brown blotches. The pectoral fins are especially large, as is expected in sculpins. The head is sculpted with a lot of detail, featuring the ridges and knobs common to sculpins. This another figure that is made in two pieces, separating the head + pectoral fish from the rest of the body. This is also the first of the Yujin fish to be made without any base at all—perhaps, given the bottom-dwelling habits, they decided not to bother giving it a 'swimming' behaviour; most of the last figure in the series do not have bases, and all of these are bottom dwellers.

Most sculpin figures that I am aware of are made in Japan (despite being found around the world), representing a few different Japanese species (I have 3 Japanese sculpin figures, of 3 different species). The companies include Kaiyodo, Colorata and Kitan, plus probably a few others (any fish referred to as a 'god' is likely to be made as a few figures!).

Pictures:









This is the figure in its two pieces—as the figure is not unusually large, and there is no base, the 2 pieces may have been required or preferred to properly capture the detail of the head.



I refer to this one as the bowhunting tournament pose--a hole in it, tossed on its back...but it's easy to see the detail that Yujin puts into every side of the models (and can often see the numbers in the photos).


For those not familiar, the Yujin Freshwater fishes were released as two series of fish, for a total of 32 fish figures. This number includes at least 3 secret figures (whose numbers remain in sequence--all figures are marked somewhere with the number) but does not incorporate a number of re-issues and repaints; there was at least one complete reissue (from which mine all come so far). The original releases, from what I can find, had yellow papers; the second release used light blue for the Series I and black for Series II. The entire set, with all variants and secrets, is actually available as a boxed set on YAJ (for around $300!), but individual figures can be found there or even on eBay for a variety of prices (the secrets & specials are of course the most expensive). Myself, there are still two or three species I don't have, but I haven't put a lot of effort into changing that...

Another nice thing about these Yujin fish model is that, like most Yujin releases, almost all of them come with a natural base and acrylic stem to display them (the Series II has a few exceptions). There are 4 or 5 bases used, plus a few unique ones for some specials. When I received mine several years ago, the fish+acrylic stems were not directly associated with the bases, so I just went with whatever worked (so if you have one or two, and the base is different, now you know why--I couldn't find a way to be sure if the bases were specific). All of the bases are based on environment--wood stems, gravel, river rocks, silt+plants, that sort of thing. Most are monochromatic, but a few are painted differently (again, often for the specials). In fact, if I wanted to get really pedantic, the bases themselves are labelled with letters based on the style, but I won't.

[Jetoar]

Woooow  it is really awesome.

[sbell]

This walk around is part of my series of the Yujin Freshwater Fish series. Part of this will be repeating this same introductory and concluding info because copy-and-paste is easy, and it keeps things consistent.  So feel free to only read this once (or never...) as well as the stuff at the end. My main motivation is that Yujin does not have many walk arounds on this site, which is a shame because they make some great models. It is also an attempt to flood (!) the site with some fishes, because there simply have not been enough lately.

One other thing--when I give the lengths of the living species, I will be using the length given on the figure's paper for consistency. Some of them seemed off, but they seem close—often better than my original usage of the Fishbase TL (unless the FB one is more interesting...). When there are more than one, I will use the higher values. And the scales will be rounded and approximate!

So now, the fish!

This figure is the Amur Goby, Rhinogobius brunneus , number 28 from the second series. This is the only Yujin true goby (Gobiinae, family Gobiidae) in the series. They are quite small fish, generally living on the bottoms of freshwater streams and brackish estuaries, hunting small invertebrates. They are unique in how their pelvic fins are fused to form a suction-cup to allow them to cling to the bottom in fast water. Apparently, the Amur Goby is anadromous, spawning in freshwater, and then traveling as juveniles to marine environments to mature. Amur Goby are naturally found in rivers in Japan and China, but have been introduced to several other Asian regions as well as the Pacific Northwest of the USA; despite their small size the presence of the Amur Goby is apparently having negative impacts on the natural environment. The Yujin model gives a length of 10cm, although are more likely to be close to 5cm.

This model measures 6cm long, giving a scale of roughly 1:2 (1:1 with the smaller, more common length). Once more, we have a very brightly coloured fish. The base colour of the fish is a light green or turquoise with a sporadic series of dark blue blotchy chevrons-like bands along the lateral line, plus a few along the dorsal margin. Interspersed among all of this is a series of small reddish-brown dots in a few rows on either side.  The scales are deeply incised, which is a good representation of the large, obvious scales of these small fish. The fins are a translucent yellow with strong, obvious fin rays; the tail has a white margin on the tail fin, with a dark orange band along the inner edge. Overall, the fish appears to be in some sort of display or fight pose, given that all of the fins are up and prominently displayed, and the mouth is held wide open. The pelvic fins are clearly sculpted to demonstrate the suction morphology seen in gobies. The head is well-sculpted, with the bulbous blue eyes and big round cheeks clearly displayed. Even inside the mouth are a few sculpted ridges, although the entire space is simply coloured pink while the lips are dark grey. The head is coloured like the body, with a base colour of green and a number of reddish dots on the cheeks, reddish vermiculation markings on the top of the head, and a thick horizontal strip on the top of each cheek. Like the Sculpin, the Amur Goby is a two-piece figure, again separating the head and pectoral fins from the body. This is another Yujin fish without any base at all; again, given the given the bottom-dwelling habits a 'swimming' pose may not have been deemed necessary.

There are a few other goby figures out there, but I could not find a reference to other Amur Gobies; as expected, the other gobies tend to be marine species made by Japanese companies like Kaiyodo, Colorata and Yujin (marine set).

Pictures:










This is the figure in its two pieces—as the figure is not unusually large, and there is no base, the 2 pieces may have been required or preferred to properly capture the detail of the head.



I refer to this one as the bowhunting tournament pose--a hole in it, tossed on its back...but it's easy to see the detail that Yujin puts into every side of the models (and can often see the numbers in the photos).


For those not familiar, the Yujin Freshwater fishes were released as two series of fish, for a total of 32 fish figures. This number includes at least 3 secret figures (whose numbers remain in sequence--all figures are marked somewhere with the number) but does not incorporate a number of re-issues and repaints; there was at least one complete reissue (from which mine all come so far). The original releases, from what I can find, had yellow papers; the second release used light blue for the Series I and black for Series II. The entire set, with all variants and secrets, is actually available as a boxed set on YAJ (for around $300!), but individual figures can be found there or even on eBay for a variety of prices (the secrets & specials are of course the most expensive). Myself, there are still two or three species I don't have, but I haven't put a lot of effort into changing that...

Another nice thing about these Yujin fish model is that, like most Yujin releases, almost all of them come with a natural base and acrylic stem to display them (the Series II has a few exceptions). There are 4 or 5 bases used, plus a few unique ones for some specials. When I received mine several years ago, the fish+acrylic stems were not directly associated with the bases, so I just went with whatever worked (so if you have one or two, and the base is different, now you know why--I couldn't find a way to be sure if the bases were specific). All of the bases are based on environment--wood stems, gravel, river rocks, silt+plants, that sort of thing. Most are monochromatic, but a few are painted differently (again, often for the specials). In fact, if I wanted to get really pedantic, the bases themselves are labelled with letters based on the style, but I won't.

[Jetoar]

Awesome. Translucent parts is the best point of this figure  .

[brontodocus]

Brilliant! Nice to see the accurate suction cup that's formed by the pelvic fins.

[brontodocus]

Great and realistic colour pattern on this sculpin figure!

[stargatedalek]

Really beautiful! It looks almost identical to the sculpin we get here, although it seems their breeding habits are very different since you won't find ours in fresh water.

[sbell]

Brilliant! Nice to see the accurate suction cup that's formed by the pelvic fins.

I do believe that Yujin has mastered producing freshwater fish figures, beyond Colorata or even Kaiyodo in many instances. The care and detail right down to the fins is remarkable--and even better in person. Especially on these colourful little ones.

The funny thing is that, now that I'm doing this (only 3 more!) I know what I am missing (only two species, and about 12 notable colour variations). Which means I have to try really hard to be good and only get the species I'm missing (unless a good opportunity presents itself )

[sbell]

Really beautiful! It looks almost identical to the sculpin we get here, although it seems their breeding habits are very different since you won't find ours in fresh water.

See, we have some here in Alberta, strictly freshwater, but they are far more...lumpy...looking.

[sbell]

This walk around is part of my series of the Yujin Freshwater Fish series. Part of this will be repeating this same introductory and concluding info because copy-and-paste is easy, and it keeps things consistent.  So feel free to only read this once (or never...) as well as the stuff at the end. My main motivation is that Yujin does not have many walk arounds on this site, which is a shame because they make some great models. It is also an attempt to flood (!) the site with some fishes, because there simply have not been enough lately.

One other thing--when I give the lengths of the living species, I will be using the length given on the figure's paper for consistency. Some of them seemed off, but they seem close—often better than my original usage of the Fishbase TL (unless the FB one is more interesting...). When there are more than one, I will use the higher values. And the scales will be rounded and approximate!

So now, the fish!

This figure is the Barred Mudskipper, Periophthalmus argentilineatus , number 29 from the second series. This is the second Yujin goby, this time as the representative of the mudskipper subfamily (Oxudercinae, family Gobiidae) in the series. This is a very widespread species, in estuarine and brackish coastal regions along the Indo-Pacific oceans. This means that they range from southern Africa through the Red Sea to Oceania and Australia, north along the coast of China to Korea and the southern islands of Japan, and then further east across several Pacific localities. A map through Fishbase also indicates that they may occur in the more equatorial/sub-tropical Pacific coastal regions of the Americas, making this the most naturally widespread figure in the Yujin series! With a range like this, I'm honestly surprised that they have not been divided taxonomically into many separate species or subspecies (at least, ones that have held up to scrutiny). Mudskippers are of course famous for their ability to leave the water during lower tides to wander along mudflats, mangrove swamps and other tidal environments to hunt, even climbing trees using the pelvic-fin suction cup. They are also found in aquariums; although I'm not sure of the species, I actually successfully kept a vivarium with mudskippers and other estuarine animals for a while, and they are as fun to watch as the sound (catching the crickets before the archerfish could shoot them, for example!). The Yujin model gives a length of 9cm, although most sources referred to them as 19cm.

This model measures 6cm long, giving a scale of roughly 1:2 (1:3 with the longer, more frequently seen length). This is another very complex-patterned fish, possible the hardest to describe yet! It is a variety of shades of brown, darker on the dorsal margin fading to very light brown and then white on the belly. There are numerous black bars across the back, each of which has ragged markings and tend to sweep anteriorly from their origin on the dorsal column. On top of all of these are two irregular rows from the pectoral fins to the base of the tail which are very thin, very vertical, and very light crème colour. On top of the head, along the cheeks and where the 'neck' would be, are a scattering of crème coloured dots. A dark band extends across the cheeks from above the upper lip to the pectoral fin. The body itself is a great sculpt of a resting or calm Mudskipper, with a big, bulbous head and a body tapering to a point at the tail.  The dorsal and caudal fins are sculpted in a yellow plastic, but they are lying flat, indicating that the Mudskipper is not threatening or fighting (as opposed to the Amur Goby, whose raised fins are a more aggressive pose). The pectoral fins look like the others, but are in the position of propping up the fish, as they would when walking. The head appears to be sculpted to show the gills filled with water, so the Mudskipper can crawl on the beach or trees; this or it just has really big cheeks! The pelvic fins are more separate than in the Amur Goby, which makes sense as these fish do not tend to 'stick' to surfaces the same way .This is another Yujin fish without any base at all; seeing as it is in a walking pose, this makes sense, although it would have been neat to see it on a branch or something.

There are a few other mudskipper figures out there, but like the goby they are generally different species, again from Yujin and Kaiyodo.

Pictures:










I refer to this one as the bowhunting tournament pose--a hole in it, tossed on its back...but it's easy to see the detail that Yujin puts into every side of the models (and can often see the numbers in the photos).


For those not familiar, the Yujin Freshwater fishes were released as two series of fish, for a total of 32 fish figures. This number includes at least 3 secret figures (whose numbers remain in sequence--all figures are marked somewhere with the number) but does not incorporate a number of re-issues and repaints; there was at least one complete reissue (from which mine all come so far). The original releases, from what I can find, had yellow papers; the second release used light blue for the Series I and black for Series II. The entire set, with all variants and secrets, is actually available as a boxed set on YAJ (for around $300!), but individual figures can be found there or even on eBay for a variety of prices (the secrets & specials are of course the most expensive). Myself, there are still two or three species I don't have, but I haven't put a lot of effort into changing that...

Another nice thing about these Yujin fish model is that, like most Yujin releases, almost all of them come with a natural base and acrylic stem to display them (the Series II has a few exceptions). There are 4 or 5 bases used, plus a few unique ones for some specials. When I received mine several years ago, the fish+acrylic stems were not directly associated with the bases, so I just went with whatever worked (so if you have one or two, and the base is different, now you know why--I couldn't find a way to be sure if the bases were specific). All of the bases are based on environment--wood stems, gravel, river rocks, silt+plants, that sort of thing. Most are monochromatic, but a few are painted differently (again, often for the specials). In fact, if I wanted to get really pedantic, the bases themselves are labelled with letters based on the style, but I won't.

[Jetoar]

Wooooo a Muskipper figure  .I didnt know this figure and it is really impresive  .

[sbell]

This walk around is part of my series of the Yujin Freshwater Fish series. Part of this will be repeating this same introductory and concluding info because copy-and-paste is easy, and it keeps things consistent.  So feel free to only read this once (or never...) as well as the stuff at the end. My main motivation is that Yujin does not have many walk arounds on this site, which is a shame because they make some great models. It is also an attempt to flood (!) the site with some fishes, because there simply have not been enough lately.

One other thing--when I give the lengths of the living species, I will be using the length given on the figure's paper for consistency. Some of them seemed off, but they seem close—often better than my original usage of the Fishbase TL (unless the FB one is more interesting...). When there are more than one, I will use the higher values. And the scales will be rounded and approximate!

So now, the fish!

This figure is the Grass Puffer (AKA Sunafugu, meaning Sand Puffer in Japanese), Takifugu niphobles , number 30 from the second series. This is the only pufferfish in the whole series, a family of immediately recognizable fish well-known for taking in air or water to make themselves much larger, as a defense mechanism. They are also well-known as a bad idea for a delicacy, and the toxin in some of their organs is decidedly and immediately lethal if improperly prepared! These are smaller puffers, found from Japan through the Koreas and China to Vietnam. They are primarily marine, but appear to come in to brackish or even far upstream freshwater environments, possibly as a means to remove or weaken parasites. They are predatory fish, using their strong beaks to consume invertebrates including shelled molluscs. The Yujin model gives a length of 12cm, but apparently can reach up to 25cm.

This model measures 5.5cm long, giving a scale of roughly 1:2 (1:5 with the longest possible length). The Grass Puffer is in a normal swimming pose, uninflated at moving forward. It has a basic crème colour body, with a light brown dorsal colouring that breaks into light brown dots along the sides. Over the head, from the eyes to the beak, the dorsal surface is a light olive green. There are two dark brown bands across the dorsal surface, one behind the eye and one roughly midway between the first band and the dorsal fin. There is a tiny dark brown blotch at the base of the dorsal fin and a small blotch at the base of the tail. The fins are translucent orange or yellow. The beak is well defined on the all-white mouth (mine appears to have a paint chip!) with the mouth slightly open. The eyes are big and bulbous, with green pupils on dark backgrounds. This is the last Yujin freshwater fish with a base, in this case a brown gravel one with a plant. There are definitely other Grass Puffer models out there, as always made by Japanese companies—at least, for sure by Kaiyodo (I have one). For puffers and their relatives overall, puffers are sort of popular due to their familiar appearance and cartoony look (despite being nasty predators!) and get made as all sorts of toys, from bath toys to models and figures.

Pictures:








I refer to this one as the bowhunting tournament pose--a hole in it, tossed on its back...but it's easy to see the detail that Yujin puts into every side of the models (and can often see the numbers in the photos). This is also the only other double I currently have in the set, and once again I could not get the peg out, so it is fortunate I have the spare to photograph from underneath!


For those not familiar, the Yujin Freshwater fishes were released as two series of fish, for a total of 32 fish figures. This number includes at least 3 secret figures (whose numbers remain in sequence--all figures are marked somewhere with the number) but does not incorporate a number of re-issues and repaints; there was at least one complete reissue (from which mine all come so far). The original releases, from what I can find, had yellow papers; the second release used light blue for the Series I and black for Series II. The entire set, with all variants and secrets, is actually available as a boxed set on YAJ (for around $300!), but individual figures can be found there or even on eBay for a variety of prices (the secrets & specials are of course the most expensive). Myself, there are still two or three species I don't have, but I haven't put a lot of effort into changing that...

Another nice thing about these Yujin fish model is that, like most Yujin releases, almost all of them come with a natural base and acrylic stem to display them (the Series II has a few exceptions). There are 4 or 5 bases used, plus a few unique ones for some specials. When I received mine several years ago, the fish+acrylic stems were not directly associated with the bases, so I just went with whatever worked (so if you have one or two, and the base is different, now you know why--I couldn't find a way to be sure if the bases were specific). All of the bases are based on environment--wood stems, gravel, river rocks, silt+plants, that sort of thing. Most are monochromatic, but a few are painted differently (again, often for the specials). In fact, if I wanted to get really pedantic, the bases themselves are labelled with letters based on the style, but I won't.