The beauty of working with glass is that you can make it into nearly any shape. Working in a torch heats the glass enough to make it malleable, but it is still firm enough to retain the shape it is given. So the lampwork glass bead artist can form the glass into the shapes of people and animals, shells, fruits, vegetables and anything else desired.
There are lampwork beads in the shapes of heads: human, dogs, cats, monkeys, dragons, etc.
There are lampwork beads in the shapes of the whole body of humans, dogs, cats, fish, dragons, lizards, snakes, and all manner of animals.
Some artists form the head and parts of the body separately, and then use metal bars to form the parts into movable figures. These are quite attractive, and often funny. Sharon Peters makes a darling two part cat this way. Kim Wetrz makes dragonflies and butterflies in three parts that allow the wings to move independently from the body/head.
Fish are a favorite form, as the glass allows an infinite variation on fin color and form, and the roundish body is a great platform to show off the beauty of transparent colored glass. Most lampworked fish do not resemble real fish, but with the colors and exotic fins, that is forgivable.
At least one artist does make replicas of actual reef fish, Pam Dugger. Her fish beads are identified by the vernacular name and resemble the original fish as much as possible without trying to be totally anatomically correct. I am sure there are other lampwork bead artists who make fish that resemble real fish, as both a challenge to make a bead to resemble a real animal and because reef fish offer such a wide variety of models to chose from.
Fruits and vegetables in miniature make interesting beads, and provide a challenge to the lampwork bead maker. Elizabeth Johnson makes raspberries, blackberries and blueberries that look like they are real.
Another good shape to try to duplicate is shells. They are beautiful in their own right, and look as good, if not better, in glass. Leaves are also nice lampwork subjects, although they are available in pressed glass and made in Chine and India by the thousands. Still, an individually made leaf by a lampwork artist is beautiful.
Look for unusually shape lampwork glass beads at bead stores, bead shows and in bead magazines.
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