Several Drawing Techniques to Illustrate Larval Fishes

Larval fishes are difficult animals to illustrate for several reasons but it is not necessary to be an accomplished artist to produce acceptable illustrations. Symbolic representations are recommended for illustration of such morphological structures as fin-rays, thickening tissue in the ventral caudal fin region, yolk materials, and eyes. As general guidelines, we recommend that myomeres be omitted (except for species that possess unusually shaped ones), that three views (dorsal, lateral, ventral) be portrayed, that artistic shading avoided (because it causes confusion with patterns of pigmentation), that illustrations be composed from more than one specimen (when necessary), and that all melanophores be shown accurately because of the importance of pigmentation patterns.