A sea with plenty of fish? - 29 fishes in a sardine tin

As member of the 'Artists of Maassluis' (Maassluis is my hometown in the Netherlands) I was asked to make an object for a group exhibition called 'Het Goud van Maassluis' (meaning the gold of Maassluis) for the Museum Maassluis. All artist were asked to search for an object in the historical collection of the museum to draw his or her inspiration from.


I found a rubber stamp with three herring like fish with the text: 'Three Fishes - Wouter Sterk Jbzn. N.V. Vlaardingen-Holland'. It was used for stamping their name and logo on (herring) barrels, as is still noticeable for the red ink. Wouter Sterk was a 'kuiperij en haringhandel', which means 'fabrication of barrels and herring trade'.

I was attracted by the stamp for a few reasons. First because of the ‘gold’ theme of the exposition. For centuries fishery was the main source of income in Maassluis. Fishing boats went to sea to catch (primarily) herring, but also salmon, cod and haddock. At that time a large part of the population was at work in the fishing industry (catching and processing) and related trade and branches, like factories for the production of barrels, sailcloth and rope. It is ‘old money’: around 1950 all companies related to the fishing industry had left Maassluis.

Second: the rubber stamp originated from Vlaardingen, the town where I was born and raised (just 5 km from my hometown) and I feel a kind of nostalgic connection to the town. The firm Wouter Sterk still exist as part of a bigger company and is located in Scheveningen, another old fishing port.

A sea with plenty of fish? as part of the 'history room' of Museum Maassluis from April to July 2016.

The third reason is obvious: I love all things connected to marine biology.

Fourth reason: I am very worried about the extinction of fish by overfishing and pollution of the seas and oceans. Hence the title of this work: A sea with plenty of fish?

The complete sardine tin with a nice illustration on top. She is holding the same sardine tin in her hand (known as 'Droste-effect').

And so I fantasized and made my work of art: a fish collection in a sardine tin. Apart from the numbers 5, 14, 24, 27 and 29 (see below), which are taken in front of an (mostly my) aquarium, I photographed the fishes while diving. I put all these fish in a sardine tin, which I bought years ago in the fishing port of Saint-Guénolé, Brittany, France. 

I had my illustration high-gloss printed on aluminium ('HD metal') in the size 90 x 60 cm. Usually I do not fancy high gloss, but in this case (to be honest with most underwater photography) it looks stunning! It makes it look very clear and brilliant.

As you would expect of me: all fish should be named. But before I tell you which is one, I let you figure it out. Hereafter I list all the names of the 29 species in order of the scientific name and the English and Dutch names whenever available. Consulting a book or website is not prohibited!

Belone belone - garfish - NL: geep

Centrolabrus exoletus - rock cook - NL: roze lipvis

Chelon labrosus - thick-lipped grey mullet - NL: diklipharder
Chromis limbata - Azores chromis - NL: Atlantische monniksvis

Ctenolabrus rupestris - goldsinny - NL: kliplipvis

Diplodus vulgaris - common two-banded seabream - NL: geringde zeebrasem
Gobius cobitis - giant goby - NL: reuzengrondel

Hexagrammos decagrammus - kelp greenling

Hydrolagus colliei - spotted ratfish - NL: gestippelde draakvis

Labrus bergylta - ballan wrasse - NL: gevlekte lipvis

Mola mola - ocean sunfish - NL: maanvis

Mullus surmuletus - striped red mullet - NL: mul

Myoxocephalus scorpius - short-spined sea scorpion - NL: gewone zeedonderpad

Parophrys vetulus - english sole

Pollachius pollachius - pollack - NL: pollak

Scorpaena porcus - black scorpionfish - NL: bruine schorpioenvis

Scorpaena scrofa - red scorpionfish - NL: oranje schorpioenvis

Sebastes caurinus - copper rockfish

Serranus cabrilla - comber - NL: tandbaars
Sphoeroides marmoratus - guinean puffer - NL: bruine kogelvis

Symphodus melops - corkwing wrasse - NL: zwartooglipvis

Symphodus ocellatus - ocellated wrasse - NL: oogvleklipvis

Symphodus roissali - five-spotted wrasse - NL: vijfvleklipvis

Symphodus tinca - peacock wrasse - NL: pauwlipvis

Syngnathus acus - greater pipefish - NL: grote zeenaald
Thalassoma pavo - ornate wrasse - NL: pauwgirelle
Trachinus draco - greater weever - NL: grote pieterman
Xyrichtys novacula - pearly razorfish - NL: parel scheermeslipvis

Zeus faber - John dory - NL: zonnevis

Are you done? You want to check out if you are right? Then here are the numbers, names and places where I took the photo. 

1. Chromis limbata - Azores chromis - NL: Atlantische monniksvis (Playa Chica, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote)
2. Symphodus tinca - peacock wrasse - NL: pauwlipvis (Tamariu, Spain)
3. Symphodus ocellatus - ocellated wrasse - NL: oogvleklipvis (Tamariu, Spain)
4. Symphodus roissali - five-spotted wrasse - NL: vijfvleklipvis (Tamariu, Spain)
5. Chelon labrosus - thick-lipped grey mullet - NL: diklipharder (aquarium, the Netherlands)
6. Hydrolagus colliei - spotted ratfish - NL: gestippelde draakvis (Rockbay, Canada)
7. Trachinus draco - greater weever - NL: grote pieterman (Tamariu, Spain)
8. Sphoeroides marmoratus - guinean puffer - NL: bruine kogelvis (Playa Chica, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote)
9. Xyrichtys novacula - pearly razorfish - NL: parel scheermeslipvis (Playa Chica, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote)
10. Diplodus vulgaris - common two-banded seabream - NL: geringde zeebrasem (Tamariu, Spain)
11. Syngnathus acus - greater pipefish - NL: grote zeenaald (Porthkerris, United Kingdom)
12. Scorpaena scrofa - red scorpionfish - NL: oranje schorpioenvis (Tamariu, Spain)
13. Zeus faber - John dory - NL: zonnevis (Porthkerris, United Kingdom)
14. Mola mola - ocean sunfish - NL: maanvis (aquarium, Lissabon, Portugal)
15. Labrus bergylta - ballan wrasse - NL: gevlekte lipvis (Porthkerris, United Kingdom)
16. Scorpaena porcus - black scorpionfish - NL: bruine schorpioenvis (Tamariu, Spain)
17. Serranus cabrilla - comber - NL: tandbaars (Tamariu, Spain)
18. Sebastes caurinus - copper rockfish (Rockbay, Canada)
19. Myoxocephalus scorpius - short-spined sea scorpion - NL: gewone zeedonderpad (Tetjes, the Netherlands)
20. Hexagrammos decagrammus - kelp greenling (Rockbay, Canada)
21. Mullus surmuletus - striped red mullet - NL: mul (Tamariu, Spain)
22. Ctenolabrus rupestris - goldsinny - NL: kliplipvis (Porthkerris, United Kingdom)
23. Parophrys vetulus - English sole (Rockbay, Canada)
24. Pollachius pollachius - pollack - NL: pollak (aquarium, the Netherlands)
25. Belone belone - garfish - NL: geep (Playa Chica, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote)
26. Centrolabrus exoletus - rock cook - NL: roze lipvis (Porthkerris, United Kingdom)
27. Gobius cobitis - giant goby - NL: reuzengrondel (Kerpape, France)
28. Thalassoma pavo - ornate wrasse - NL: pauwgirelle (Playa Chica, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote)
29. Symphodus melops - corkwing wrasse - NL: zwartooglipvis (Kattendijke, the Netherlands)

And how many did you guess right? All? Then you must be an ichthyologist!

Maybe you are thinking: I want to see the whole fish, not just their head. Be assured: I will publish them all in posts in the future!