CARLOS ESTAPE

My wife Allison and I are Citizen Scientists who take diagnostic images of fish in their natural habitat, publish our findings in scientific journals, and provide images for use in research, publications, educational web sites and training materials. Our Tropical Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific galleries include over 32,000 images that showcase the development phases and color variations of 931 fish species.

We are Underwater Naturalists who educate the public and marine biology students on fish behavior and identification. In 2018 & 2019, we were the featured underwater naturalists at CocoView Resort’s Seahorse Festivals and Great Fish Count Festival in Roatan, Honduras. We gave daily presentations and led weekly group dives to showcase fish behavior and identification. From 2014-2019, we led monthly fish ID presentations at REEF.org in Key Largo, FL and were the featured speakers at REEF Fest 2015, 2016 & 2018. We have been featured speakers to a wide range of international audiences, including a 2021 presentation to the marine biologists at the Charles Darwin Research Station, Galapagos. We created the 100fishid educational website to promote citizen science by enabling divers and marine biology students to improve their fish ID skills.

Our current projects include photo-documenting reef-fish species in the Eastern Pacific for the 2022 update to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Shorefishes of the East Pacific online information system, publishing our findings, and sharing our images and data with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, scientists, and marine-oriented nonprofits for use in their research, publications and educational materials.

Visit our website galleries at carlosestape.photoshelter.com
Visit our educational website 100 Fish ID