Background: Nature is perceived in a variety of forms, and the perception of nature can also be expressed in different ways. Local art may represent the perception of nature by humans. It can embody perception, imagination and wisdom. Local art, in particular, reflects how people interact with nature. For example, when studying the representation of fish by different cultures, it is possible to access information on the fish species found in the environment, on its relative importance, and on historical events, among others. In this context, art can be used to obtain information on historical events, species abundance, ecology, and behaviour, for example. It can also serve to compare baselines by examining temporal and spatial scales. This study aims to analyse art and nature from a human ecological perspective: art can understood as an indicator of fish abundance or salience. Art has a variety of dimensions and perspectives. Art can also be associated with conservation ecology, being useful to reinterpret ecological baselines. A variety of paintings on fish, as well as paintings from local art, are explored in this study. They are analyzed as representing important fish, spatially and historically.
Methods: A survey regarding the fish found in different paintings was conducted using art books and museum books. Pictures were taken by visiting museums, particularly for local or traditional art (Australia and Cape Town).
Results: The fish illustrated here seem to be commonly important in terms of salience. For example, Coryphaena spp. is abundant in Greece, Nile tilapia in Egypt, Gadus morhua in the Netherlands, as well as barracuda in Australia; salience is also applied to useful, noticeable or beautiful organisms, such as Carassius auratus (China). Another aspect of salience, the diversity of a group, is also represented by the panel where Uraspis uraspis appears to be depicted.
Conclusions: Regarding the evaluation of baselines, we should consider that art may represent abundant fish in certain historic periods and geographic regions. Art could be an important temporal and geographical indicator to discover preterit information on the abundance of fish and compare it to present abundance.