octopus, originally uploaded by Cryptonaut.

This is a fact: When it comes to high-quality toy animals, Safari Ltd. blows any competition out of the water. Their replicas include not only a wide array of sea life, but also birds, insects, jungle mammals, farm animals, and the most scientifically accurate line of plastic dinosaurs ever produced. Safari figurines are widely available online, in retail stores (arts & crafts store Michaels, for example, usually has a good selection) and in museum gift shops the world over.

The Wild Safari Sealife® Octopus doesn’t provide a specific taxonomic identification, and, like most toy octopi, it’s not entirely obvious–after all, there are hundreds of known species of octopus, and their body color and texture is famously variable. If I had to make a guess, I’d say it’s most likely the Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris)–the well-studied species known from the waters of southern England to norther Africa and the Mediterranean.

The figure itself is 5″ L x 1.5″ H and retails for $3.99.

Buy it from Safariltd.com
Buy it from Amazon.com

glass “squid”, originally uploaded by Cryptonaut.

I found this odd glass figurine at a vintage clothing store in Durham, NC. (The Electric Blender, which, tragically, has since gone out of business.) It has only six arms, and what appears to be whale flukes at the end of its tail, but the overall shape suggests that this is supposed to be a squid. Of course, the color scheme suggests an unholy union of a giraffe and a banana slug…