The Little Fish photography exhibition – Museum of Natural History, Paris

‘The Little Fish’ photography exhibition—Les Petits des Poissons—was due to end on 25 March 2020, but has now been extended indefinitely. The exhibition organized by the Paris National Museum of Natural History is on a fence within the Jardin des Plants—the Garden of Plants.

The National Museum of Natural History houses a collection of more than 15,700 fish larvae! Most were collected in the waters off French Polynesia, the Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica. So ‘The Little Fish’ photography exhibition presents a series of photos of some of these specimens on the grids of the Garden of Plants.

In fish, the term 'larvae' refers to the youngest individuals (singular is larva, and plural is larvae). The larval stage precedes the juvenile stage. This is the most delicate stage in the life of a fish. Studying the larval stage provides a better understanding of their development, distribution, and survival.

Some of the transparent images show the musculature structure of the larvae. The skeleton then becomes visible. In the images, the bone is coloured red and the cartilage is coloured blue. This make it easier to understand how these larvae work.

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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