Mathison Museum of Natural History

Wonderful figures

Species: Mesotopus tarandus (Swederus, 1787)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King, standard series, small
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body + mandible length 6.0 cm, for a scale of 1:1.3 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: Mesotopus tarandus has become a staple among sets of beetles produced by Japanese manufacturers. The Sega 'small standard series' were 10 sets of 10 figures each, for a total of 100 figures. They represented roughly 75 species of Lucanidae and dynastine Scarabaeidae. The figures were produced in conjunction with Bandai and came with Pokemon-style playing cards. At the time of this writing, I think I have all but two of the species. For a review of the set, please see here.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Equatorial West Africa, including Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ghana
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae breed in rotting logs colonized by very specific fungi; adult feeding habits not well-documented but probably attracted to sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: It was a challenge researching much on the biology of this species. They are popular with beetle breeders, but can be challenging to rear unless their diet is supplemented with specific fungi.

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Wonderful figures again!

Species: Paralithodes camtschaticus (Tilesius, 1815) (Alaskan king crab; red king crab)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Sealife
Year of Release: 2019
Size/Scale: Legspan 12.5 cm. Carapace width 3.5 cm for a scale of 1:2-1:8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: Not including figures in Safari Ltd's 'Incredible Creatures' line, this figure was the first crustacean released in a Western company's 'Sealife' line. It was also CollectA's first crustacean (looks like they'll be following it up next year with an American lobster!). This figure is one of the largest of its species on the toy market, but it is also one of the best, rivaling some of those made by Japanese companies. If its size isn't an issue, it makes a great addition to one's collection (if it is too big, there are very nice, smaller models available by Kaiyodo, Epoch, and Yujin).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northern Pacific, including the Japan, Okhotsk, and Bering Seas and the Gulf of Alaska; introduced to the Barents Sea
Habitat: Benthic, usually at depths of 0-460 meters
Diet: Marine invertebrates, algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Unlike most crabs and their relatives that have ten visible legs (they belong to the order Decapoda, which is Greek for 'ten feet'), P. camtschaticus and its relatives have only eight (three pairs of walking legs and one pair of claws). The last pair of legs are reduced in size and hidden inside the gill chamber under the carapace and are used for cleaning the gills.

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Very nice crab

So realistic!

It was very nice that CollectA released a crustacean into their range last year, and I am too very excited about their lobster.

Species: Macrocheira kaempferi (Temminck, 1836) (giant Japanese spider crab)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Sendai Aquarium Figure Collection
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Figure legspan 7.0 cm. Carapace width 1.5 cm for a scale of 1:26.6 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure comes with a blue plastic rock base (not shown); the acrylic rod snapped off in my base so my figure doesn't securely attach anymore. Thankfully, the figure displays fine without the base. Some assembly is required as well. This species is not commonly made, but is usually available, by Japanese companies.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific in the seas around Japan and Taiwan
Habitat: Benthic, usually at depths of 50-400 meters
Diet: Marine invertebrates and algae, also a scavenger
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Macrocheira kaempferi is the largest crab in the world by legspan, with some specimens reaching 3.7 meters. In fact, it has the largest legspan of any extant arthropod!

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very realistic Mesotopus, King and Spider crabs and very beautiful backgrounds!

The ones of sea ground are particulary interesting to present sea life!

Caracal wrote:

The ones of sea ground are particulary interesting to present sea life!

It's one of several PLM Dioramansion displays I use for this thread. I have five: under sea; beach; jungle; pasture; deciduous forest with creek (I haven't used that last one yet)

Nice crab again

bmathison1972 wrote:

Caracal wrote:

The ones of sea ground are particulary interesting to present sea life!

It's one of several PLM Dioramansion displays I use for this thread. I have five: under sea; beach; jungle; pasture; deciduous forest with creek (I haven't used that last one yet)

I checked on Web, some are fantastic!.. could you indicate their size to me please?

Caracal wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

Caracal wrote:

The ones of sea ground are particulary interesting to present sea life!

It's one of several PLM Dioramansion displays I use for this thread. I have five: under sea; beach; jungle; pasture; deciduous forest with creek (I haven't used that last one yet)

I checked on Web, some are fantastic!.. could you indicate their size to me please?

I'll measure one when I get home today. They work best for smaller figures and gashapon (I think they were designed for anime figures).

EDIT: They are 15 cm square on the base and each side

Such a realistic figure on such a realistic background

When these giant Japanese spider crabs get very large, their legs seem disproportionally long relative to their carapace, as in this video: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

My impression is that the Kaiyodo is a smaller specimen, what would you say?

rogerpgvg wrote:

When these giant Japanese spider crabs get very large, their legs seem disproportionally long relative to their carapace, as in this video: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

My impression is that the Kaiyodo is a smaller specimen, what would you say?

Yeah I thought the legs didn't look as long as they usually are...

Thanks Blaine! :)

Species: Chelidonichthys spinosus (McClelland, 1844) (spiny red gurnard)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Salt Water Fish
Year of Release: 2015 (2006)
Size/Scale: Body length 4.4 cm for a scale of 1:9 for a large specimen. Base 5.5 cm long.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other figures in the Salt Water Fish collection, the animal attaches to a habitat-style base from which it can be easily removed. The clear acrylic rod that connects the figure to the base can be cut to the desired length of the collector. Colorata released this set more than once; mine came out in 2015 but the first release of this figure was 2006. The only other figure of this species I am aware of is a Kaiyodo Aquatales figure that came out in 2003.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific, from the Sea of Japan to South China Sea
Habitat: Demersal, usually at depths of 25-615 meters
Diet: Marine invertebrates, small fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Gurnards (also known as sea robins) have walking rays on the sides of their body that are used for specialized locomotion as well as prey detection via chemoreception. The walking rays are modified fin rays that separate from the rest of the pectoral fins during development.

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wonderful figurine and picture!

Beautiful!

One of my favourite fish figures :)

Species: †Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Aymard, 1846) (giant short-faced hyena)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Paleo-Creatures
Series: N/A
Year of Release: 2016
Size/Scale: Figure 9.0 cm long. Height at shoulder 5.0 cm for a scale of 1:18-1:20.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Paleo-Creatures were designed and produced by forum member Jetoar. The figure stands loosely on the flat habitat-style base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Miocene to Middle Pleistocene of Eurasia and East Africa
Habitat: Plains, forest edges, and other open areas
Diet: Kleptoparasitic scavenger, occasionally a predator
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Pachycrocuta brevirostris was the largest hyena species known. It was also the largest mammal capable of cracking bones, which was essential given that its diet probably consisted mainly of carcasses of large animals such as deer, bison, and horses that were killed by other mammals (such as large cats).

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A canine type animal!! (I say this as I read somewhere that they are more closely related to cats!)
I have never seen this lovely model before, and it is an unusual species! Love it!