Smelt Family (Osmeridae)

Mudminnow Family (Umbridae)

Pike Family (Esocidae)

 

Cod Family (Gadidae)

Killifish Family (Cyprinodontidae)

 

Stickleback Family (Gasterosteidae)

 

Temperate Bass Family (Percichthyidae)

 

Sunfish Family (Centrarchidae)

 

Perch Family (Percidae)

Drum or Sheepshead Family (Sciaenidae)

This archive of fish images was developed with the assistance of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) and Cornell Cooperative Extension. Douglas Carlson (NYS DEC Watertown office) provided essential support by obtaining access to the original drawings, then enlisting the assistance of Jason Hutton in scanning them.

Image Sources:

Most of these images originated from artwork produced from 1926 through 1939 by two artists, Ellen Edmundson and Hugh H. Chrisp. Their work was sponsored by the New York Department of Conservation, as part of comprehensive biological surveys of biota throughout all New York watersheds. These paintings were an integral part of these surveys, hence their production was a team effort. While the artwork was usually the effort of a single individual, field crews collected, transported and maintained specimens alive until the artist and ichthyologist were satisfied that each painting was accurate.

Both artists performed preparatory studies of color, posture, and form using living fish observed under daylight, usually at the capture site. On completion of these studies, the artists examined freshly sacrificed specimens for proportional and meristic detail. Illustrations were produced predominantly in watercolor, with delineation and highlights added using graphite, india ink, and white paste. A few portraits were produced in oil.

Several additional fish images (where noted at the bottom of each individual page) and all of the species distribution images were obtained from "The Inland Fishes of New York State" by C. Lavett Smith, published by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 1985. This book can be obtained from the NYS DEC in Albany (518-457-3521) for $16.15. Credit cards are accepted.

Species Descriptions:

Species descriptions within the following web pages originated from "The Inland Fishes of New York State" and the "Guide To Freshwater Fishes of New York". "Inland Fishes of New York State" is out-of-print, though is available in many libraries and has been scanned and made available on-line by the New York State Library as part of their digital collections. A shortcut to two pdf files that account for the entire 522 pages of this book, including color pictures, is located at http://purl.org/net/nysl/nysdocs/13881714 . The "Guide to Freshwater Fishes of New York" provides identification keys and black-and-white line drawings for about 100 fish found in the waters of New York and neighboring states. This book can be purchased on-line for $5.00 from Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Related Sites:

The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute maintains an on-line version of Fishes of Wisconsin, authored by George C. Becker. This classic text, more than 1000 pages in length, was originally published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 1983 and has been out-of-print for over a decade. The entire book is available on-line in an electronic version at http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/becker.html. Viewing the book will require a downloaded plug-in called "DjVu" that allows you to navigate through the entire book, page by page, on your monitor. Many north temperate fishes are common to Wisconsin and the northeastern U.S., and species descriptions within Fishes of Wisconsin are comprehensive.

Home (This web site is maintained by Clifford Kraft, Cornell University)