| Summary: | Since its establishment in 1968, the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology (now named the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity) has commissioned, collected and curated illustrations of fish morphology/anatomy (e.g. detailed studies of fins) and whole, preserved specimens that constitute the National Fish Collection of South Africa (occasionally specimens in other collections have been illustrated). Some illustrations predate the Institute. The illustrations, numbering in the region of 6000-8000 pieces, were mostly created by artists employed by the Institute, and are mostly pen/ink drawings that were published in the primary, taxonomic/systematic research literature, often when new species were described or groups were revised, or a monograph or book was published. Usually an illustration's purpose is to illustrate the morphological differences between closely related species or to document the size, shape, form or colour of specimens of a new species. Many of the illustrations are colour paintings in watercolour or acrylic. While records describing each illustration have been captured, only about 50% of the illustrations had been digitized by 2013. The records of the digitized illustrations have been migrated to the Specify biodiversity database which is used for managing standardized specimen- and related biodiversity information. While the vast majority of illustrations are of great scientific value, many of them are works of art which also have aesthetic, cultural and historical value.
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