prettiest poster of Hawaii reef fishes

January 25, 2022 9:12 AM

I want a really pretty, bright, comprehensive-as-possible, full size poster of Hawaiian reef fishes (with names, so we can learn them) for my wall.

Photos would be better than illustrations; but if illustrated, then brightly.

Size of fish indicated relative to each other would be a plus, but not necessary.

I don't want a little laminated "identification card". Has to be a full size poster. (But if it's a poster-size of one of the better identification cards, then fine.)

Bonus question: same request but for Caribbean reef fishes.

Coming up empty on the standard searches, but I'm sure they're out there. Help?

posted by fingersandtoes to Shopping (2 answers total)

Response by poster: to clarify, this sort of thing is no good because the illustrations are rudimentary and dissimilar enough to the real thing to not be useful as a a learning guide. Also I think I spot an error on it at first glance, even with my extremely rudimentary knowledge.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:22 AM on January 25, 2022

Best answer: I have this poster from Franko, it has been useful to me for fish identification. FYI, the reason that quality guides use illustrations rather than photographs is that the former allow you to emphasize the sometimes subtle differences between closely related species. Photos tend to have inconcistent lighting, shading, etc., and make it harder to recognize the range of appearances within a species. Franko is pretty well regarded in the scuba world, I don't know if they have academic credibility, but people who know the scientific names of a hundred fish don't scoff at them, either. Happy fish spotting!
posted by wnissen at 5:25 PM on January 25, 2022