The vast Great Lakes ecosystem is historically home to 210 species of fish. An updated 26.5 x 38.5 Fish of the Great Lakes poster is home to 35 species of fish, many suggested by Wisconsin residents who wanted to see their favorites immortalized.
“We put out a call,” said Wisconsin Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer. “We asked people what fish they’d like to see displayed on the poster, updated from a version originally created in 2000 and which has sold nearly 10,500 copies. I think people will like these newly added fish because they have a personal connection with them, had hands-on experience with them, or they just think they’re cute.”
Swimming onto the poster are the bowfin, spottail shiner, channel catfish, longnose gar, bluegill, round whitefish, trout-perch and siscowet. Retired to a distant water habitat are the brown bullhead, emerald shiner, lake trout, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed, rock bass, white bass and white perch. Some fish remained, including the lake sturgeon, walleye and musky.
“The poster is very popular with students, fishermen and management agencies such as departments of natural resources. With this edition, we have also grouped the fish in their families—trout and salmon or perch, for example—as a way to further the learning about fish and how they live in the Great Lakes,” said Linda Campbell who manages the Sea Grant online publication store.
The fish are presented as colorful images created by Kansas artist Joseph Tomelleri. His images were also used on the previous poster. He is known for exquisite detail and painstaking attention to accuracy. Anatomical features such as scale and fin ray counts are accurate and the colors are realistic. Tomelleri’s illustrations each take 12 to 50 hours to complete.
“Fish of the Great Lakes” costs $6, which includes shipping and handling. It’s an affordable way to learn about the fish of the Great Lakes.
