Mathison Museum of Natural History

One of the best sets

I like the pinguins from Colorata very much.

Species: Ogyris genoveva Hewitson, 1853 (genoveva azure; southern purple azure)

About the Figure:
Manufacturers: K&M International; Insect Lore
Series: Butterflies Mini Polybag (K&M); Big Bunch-O Butterflies (IL)
Years of Release: unknown (K&M); 2013 (IL)
Size/Scale: Wingspan 4.4 cm, for a scale of 1:1.1-1:1.25 (slightly under 1:1)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon to rare
Miscellaneous Notes: While not the best representation of this species, at least in terms of color, the identification of these two figures is based on the Club Earth figure that started the trend. The figure on the left is by K&M International; the one on the right is by Insect Lore. The two figures are identical and without unique markings. I only know which is which because I can compare the nuances of the paint application with images in earlier posts on the forum! Whether Insect Lore copied K&M (I do know the K&M model came first) or they both outsourced the same manufacturer, I do not know.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeastern Australia
Habitat: Dry Eucalyptus woodlands
Diet: Larvae feed on mistletoes in the family Loranthaceae; adults are attracted to flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Ogyris genoveva has a symbiotic relationship with ants in the genus Camponotus. The larvae of O. genoveva feed at night. When not feeding, the larvae reside in the nests of the ants. The ants are believed to offer protection to the young larvae. The ants will shepherd the caterpillars to and from their mistletoe food source, protecting them from predators and parasitoids.

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very beautiful display!

Species: Lactoria diaphana (Bloch et Schneider, 1801) (roundbelly cowfish)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Epoch
Series: The Poison
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:5.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Minimal assembly is required. The figure also connects to its habitat-style base with a medal rod, from which it is removable.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East and Indo-Pacific, southeast Atlantic off Namibia
Habitat: Coral reefs, usually at depths of 8-50 meters
Diet: Benthic invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Lactoria diaphana is toxic for humans to eat, due to the presence of palytoxins that build up in the fish after the ingestion of toxic cnidarians.

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A beautieful and rare fish figure

Interesting fish. Do you know why it has such a big "nose"?

rogerpgvg wrote:

Interesting fish. Do you know why it has such a big "nose"?

Do you mean the extended mouthparts? That's a common feature of the Tetraodontiformes, and I haven't researched (yet, at least) anything on the evolutionary advantages of a 'snout'.

The spikes above the eyes are 'horns' (also common with some Tetraodontiformes)

I meant the horn. Does it have a function?

Species: Gymnothorax kidako (Temminck et Schlegel, 1846) Kidako moray

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Enoshima Aquarium 3D Atlas Anima Series 2
Year of Release: 2005
Size/Scale: Bottlecap base 3.5 cm in diameter. Figure height 4.5 cm. Measured along mid-line, body approximately 10.0 cm for a scale of 1:9
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure and its habitat-style base are removable from the blue bottlecap, but I honestly cannot tell if the eel is removable from the rocks; it doesn't appear to be one solid piece, but I dare not try for fear of breakage.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central Pacific, from Japan and Taiwan to the Society Islands and Hawaii
Habitat: Shallow coral reefs, usually at depths of 2-350 meters
Diet: Fish, cephalopods
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Gymnothorax kidako is a nocturnal predator, and has been known to snatch game from divers! However, sometimes turnaround is fair play, and G. kidako is eaten by people in parts of Japan.

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Beautiful species and display!

I like moray eel figures

Species: Rosalia ferriei Vuillet, 1911

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Animatales - Okinawa
Year of Release: 2013
Size/Scale: Body length (not including antennae) 4.3 cm for a scale of approximately 1.5:1 (calculations based on measured specimens posted online)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This is one of at least three species of Rosalia in toy/figure form. Being a Capsule Q Animatales figure, some assembly is required.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Amami Ōshima, Japan
Habitat: Forests
Diet: Larvae develop in rotting hardwoods, especially Castanopsis sieboldii (Itajii chinquapin); adult feeding habits unknown (adults of other Rosalia feed on flowers).
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had a hard time researching information on this species. Apparently it is endemic to the island of Amami Ōshima, and it is believed to be suffering from population decrease due to deforestation.

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Beautiful species, model and display!

Species: Carcharhinus melanopterus (Quoy et Gaimard, 1824) (blacktip reef shark)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Sealife
Year of Release: 2013 (2012)
Size/Scale: Body length 14.0 cm for a scale of 1:6.5-1:14.2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: There were apparently three different releases of this figure early on, each with different paint applications. The original in 2012 was dark brown with sharper highlights, followed shortly by an olive-green form, also with sharp highlights. In late 2013, the version shown here was released, which is a matte grey with more subtle highlights (the markings are more obvious in-hand than they may appear in this pic).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Reef-associated, usually at depths of 20-75 meters
Diet: Fish, marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Carcharhinus melanopterus has been known to bite people wading or diving in shallow water, but generally they are not considered an aggressive shark. None of the documented attacks to date have been fatal. Often, the shark is drawn to people because of fish they are catching, rather than the person themselves.

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Nice shark figure

Wonderful shark, sculpted with a very smooth finish!

Beautiful model and wonderful picture!

Caracal wrote:

Beautiful model and wonderful picture!

I love how you set these up, really beautiful displays, and interesting information. Nice how you give relevance to every model by knowing the natural history!

Thanks all. Next up:

Species: Atrax robustus Cambridge, 1877 (Sydney funnelweb spider)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Venomous Spiders
Year of Release: 2010
Size/Scale: Figure 4.0 cm tall. Body length comes to 2.7 cm, making it approximately 1:1.3 for a female (which this figure appears to be)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure also comes with a flat black circular base (not shown here) that has the Latin name, Japanese name, and degree of toxicity.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Sydney Region, New South Wales, Australia
Habitat: Moist microhabitats, such as in soil and under rocks and logs in gullies, forests, gardens, compost heaps
Diet: Invertebrates; occasionally small vertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Atrax robustus is often regarded as the most venomous spider in the world. The venom contains delta atracotoxin, which makes the venom particularly lethal to primates, more so than to other mammals. Interestingly, unlike widows in the genus Latrodectus where the females are the more venomous sex, it is the males of A. robustus that are more venomous.

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glups!!.. v..verry.. bbeautiful.. display..