FishBase is an information database on the biology of fishes. This Web site provides information on fish biology, including descriptions of morphology, metabolism gill area, brain size, eye pigment, swimming speed, diet, tropic levels, predators, genetic traits, and allele frequencies; fish distribution, including population dynamics by country; and fish taxonomy. This information is particularly valuable to the fishing industry in developing countries. The site also seeks to reach a broader audience:
teachers;
students;
taxonomists;
conservationists;
policymakers;
research scientists;
scholars;
biologists; and
anglers.
To this end visitors are given the opportunity to create their own personal database of where and when they have seen, caught, or acquired particular fish. In addition, images of fish are provided, and visitors are encouraged to submit their own photographs.
Technically, the home page loads quickly and is quite functional without many images to load. The introductory text on this page is well written and gives a good explanation of the purpose of the site. However, it is written in a sans serif font, making it more difficult to read than it should be. The availability of some language alternatives is a good idea but should be more obviously placed at the top of the page. There is a good variety of page options on this top level, but the organization is awkward with no discernable pattern. Links exist all over the page, but they do not draw the visitor in any particular direction. An added problem is that the links are poorly named, causing confusion as to their supposed content. A search feature is helpful but lacks explanatory text. A puzzling feature at the bottom of the initial page is the placement of multiple logos, some of which are links to other apparently worthy Web sites. There is no explanation of the purpose of these logos on this Web site, or the fact that only some are linked.
Ultimately, though, Fishbase makes accessible to the casual as well as the more serious visitor vast amounts of information about fishes not otherwise available in one database.
