Recensión: Fishes of the Orinoco
75
ANARTIA
Publicación del Museo de Biología de la Universidad del Zulia
ISSN 1315-642X (impresa) / ISSN 2665-0347 (digital)
Anartia, 32 (junio 2021): 75-77
Fishes of the Orinoco in the Wild
Mikolji, Ivan
2020. Delray Beach, FL, USA / Padstow, UK: Mikolji
Corp / T J Books, 394 pp. + [ii]
ISBN: 978-1-83853-883-5 (hardback w/dustjacket,
25.5 x 25.5 cm). USD 125.00.
Distribuido por info@mikolji.com
We had waited for at least a decade for this work to
come to light. I met its author, Ivan Mikolji, in 2010. He
seemed to me, above all, a brave and daring scientist, ca-
pable of diving in the waters of creeks, rivers and lagoons
in southern Venezuela without fearing the sudden electric
shocks of the Electrophorus, the painful spurs of the sting-
rays or the terrible bites of the frenzied piranhas. He came
to my oce at the Venezuelan Institute of Scientic Re-
search accompanied by a mutual friend, my old classmate,
Alfredo Pérez, ichthyologist and then professor of sheries
at the Universidad Nacional Experimental de Los Llanos
“Ezequiel Zamora”. Ivan presented me with a series of im-
pressive underwater videos, in which I was able to appreci-
ate for the rst time in their natural environment many of
the colorful sh from the Venezuelan Amazon that I used
to acquire in aquarist stores in western Venezuela when I
was a child (oen at quirky high and bloated prices). He
spoke to me with simplicity and humility about how he
achieved such impressive and original shots with unso-
phisticated underwater video cameras. However, I imme-
diately noticed that this new-found character was not at
all, neither a sh amateur nor an ordinary photographer.
He is a subject who knows nature, the freshwater shes of
his country and the technological resources to carry out
his intentions to record them for posterity. I appreciated
the occasion positively and promised to explore the pos-
sibility of involving Ivan in an institutional project to pro-
duce at least one documentary video about the living fauna
of freshwater sh in Venezuela. I do seem to recall, howev-
er, his brief intention to produce a book with high-quality
images of the little-known world he had been exploring.
A short time later I stopped occupying the only position
that would have allowed me to crystallize the support I
Contents: e Author (by Eduardo Planchart Licea,
PhD); Acknowledgments; Foreword (by Nathan Hill);
Preface; Introduction; Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain
Range; Great Morichales of the Northeast; Llanos; Flooded
Savannas; Western Guiana Shield; Lost World; Sierra de
La Macarena; Order Beloniformes; Order Characiformes;
Order Siluriformes; Order Cyprinodontiformes; Order Per-
ciformes; Order Symbranchiformes; Order Myliobatiformes;
Species List in alphabetical order; Abbreviations; Glossary;
Patrons.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5571346
Á. L. Viloria
76
dreamed of for Ivan. However, this did not mean much in
the personal and very independent agenda of the author
who, at last, has recently managed to produce a magni-
cently illustrated book in which 151 species of freshwater
sh can be seen in their wildest splendor. ey represent a
no less astonishing variety of 89 genera, distributed in 28
families. In terms of species numbers it means nearly 14%
of the recorded ichthyofauna of the greater Orinoco basin,
which contains one of the most complex networks of riv-
ers and ooding areas of the American continent.
I will continue to comment on the simplest thing that
this book oers, which is the visual enjoyment of unrepeat-
able images of biological diversity, animal colors, shadows
and contrasts and the indescribable mysterious eects that
sunlight produces when penetrating translucent waters,
yellowish or reddish, of the rivers and pools of the Ori-
noco basin and other surrounding regions. Some of the
orders of sh found in these regions are barely represented
by one or two species. Such are the cases of the stingrays
(Potamotrygonidae, Myliobatiformes), the needlesh
(Belonidae, Beloniformes), the eel Symbranchus marmo-
ratus (Synbranchidae, Synbranchiformes) or the peculiar
Amazonian leaf sh Monocirrhus polyacanthus (Polycen-
tridae, Perciformes), all visible here in sharp images. Other
more diverse groups such as the Siluriformes (catshes in
general) and the Characiformes, whose variety seems in-
nite, have been documented through the most unusual
forms, as in the case of certain armored catsh and corydo-
ras among the former, and the precious tetras, some Ser-
rasalmus and Leporinus among the latter, all rather notable
for their highly contrasting coloration. For me, a favorite
group of sh, due to their rare beauty and ornamental po-
tential, are the cichlids, equally representatively portrayed
in this work.
Many of the photographs taken by Ivan Mikolji in his
intrepid endeavor, document not only the species and their
habitats but also the distinctive behaviors of some species.
I can mention as examples the remarkable gregariousness
of certain corydoras (pp. 231, 232-233) and piranhas (pp.
208-209), and the unique vertical positioning of the pencil
shes (pp. 184-187). Likewise, when studying the group
of sh represented in this book, we cannot help but be
amazed at the astonishing diversity that exists in some of
the sites explored by the author, the case of Caño El Pozo
in the state of Amazonas in Venezuela, or Caño Verde, in
the Department of Vichada in Colombia. e environ-
ments of these rivers and of many others, as well as the
circumstances in which the photographic record of their
ichthyofauna was achieved, or the ethology of the animals,
are eventually described in the text with a particular poetic
accent that hints at the author’s sensibility towards nature
and its romantic inclinations. ese are the traits of his
artistic side, never detected during our rst acquaintance.
I want to mention some photographs that have im-
pressed me quite a bit because of the sharpness with
which the static animals are presented in the foreground,
contrasted with a background of absolute depth, almost
dreamlike. ese are the images of Acestrorhynchus microl-
epis (pp. 48-49), Iguanodectes cf. gracilis (pp. 174-175) and
Semaprochilodus kneri (pp. 198-199). Personally, I con-
sider that these images are perfect.
A portfolio type of book like this must be enjoyed (due
to its format, size and weight) on a table, wide open. e
information, both visual and written, is to be perceived as
a whole in the way it is presented in a double page. Some
readers might be critical at appreciating the layout and de-
sign, in which the main photograph is reproduced lling
the entire space of the right page and a third of the area of
the le one. is seems to me quite artistic and original for
this kind of portfolio. ere are a few cases of two pictures
presented per double page, but in these instances there is
always one main picture shared between two pages. is
was the creative choice of the designers and printers, a
recognized award winning British independent group
(https://www.tjbooks.co.uk/).
Every sh species in each photograph is identied in an
individual caption, with its Latin name, an author’s code,
date (month and year when the picture was taken), locality
(water body, state, country, biogeographic region), photo-
graphic equipment employed and its setting specications.
Latitude and longitude.
In the remaining space of the double page, which is two
thirds of the square page to the le, the accompanying il-
lustration is coupled with its species data sheet, which con-
tains its Latin scientic name, taxonomic author and date
of description, and its common name in English (when
known). Following, a personal description of the experi-
ence of the author when observing and photographing the
animal, with relevant bionomic notes and geographic dis-
tribution information.en, its classication in descend-
ing hierarchical line: order, family, genus and species.
Etymology of the scientic name, which oen is either cu-
rious or very interesting, especially from a historical point
of view; geographical distribution known for the species;
individual size of the sh species (presumably, maximum
total length. In any case just as a reference to give an ad-
ditional idea to the reader, who might not be familiar with
this fauna); pH and temperature range of the water favor-
able to the species (which means that a lot of these data
should have been taken in the eld by Ivan Mikolji him-
self). e data sheet ends with information notes on the
sympatry or coexistence of the taxon with other species.
Recensión: Fishes of the Orinoco
77
* Centro de Ecología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientícas (IVIC), km 11 carretera Panamericana, Altos de Pipe, estado Miranda,
Venezuela.
is is a good and original issue, as it gives a reasonable
idea of the type of sh community in which the species
selected interacts with others, and it is also a good clue to
investigate appropriate places and the right spot to search
for a particular taxon.
e scientic character of this work is availed by the
revision of Donald C. Taphorn, one of the most respect-
ed and competent ichthyologists and sh systematists in
Venezuela and elsewhere, expert in the freshwater fauna of
northern South America, particularly Venezuela (where he
used to be a notable sta member of two national universi-
ties for more than 20 years) and Colombia (where he has
also participated in a number of research projects). Sev-
eral experienced ichthyologists from the northern South
America “cluster” (chiey from Venezuela and Colombia)
have collaborated in this Art-and-Science Project provid-
ing their expert knowledge to help Ivan Mikolji with the
identication of the species represented in this beautiful
pictorial sampler, namely D. C. Taphorn, A. Machado-
Allison, C. Lasso, O. Lasso-Alcalá, C. Do Nascimento,
W. Streck, F. Magallanes and L. Mesa Salazar. It should
be stressed that it is not an easy task to identify through
photography some small freshwater shes from such a vast
and biologically diverse area. Many morphological charac-
ters used in diagnosing closely related taxa or species from
dierent genera that share similar appearance may not be
evident in photos, and only true experts are capable of suc-
cessfully doing this work.
is book is original also by the fact that it reects a
major eort to present the identity of the aquatic plants
depicted with the shes in the wild. e author consid-
ers plants an important component of the freshwater
environment or subaquatic microhabitats to which some
particular sh species are evidently associated. is task,
not simple or trivial by any means, was well accomplished
by Venezuelan botanists Francisco Delascio and Sixto Ro-
dríguez.
e sober curation of the collection of photographs
sharply reproduced in this high-quality, well designed and
beautifully produced book, was the responsibility of Vene-
zuelan art scholar Eduardo Planchart Licea, a most knowl-
edgeable, noble and aable character. I have personally
met him in Caracas, two and a half years ago, during the
opening of one of Ivan’s photographic exhibitions, which
was not precisely on shes, but conceived by that synergic
duet, Mikolji-Planchart, as a selection of oddly colorful
and skillfully framed –documentary, gurative and ab-
stract– scenes of the underworld of our freshwater bod-
ies. ere, I understood the need for a curator. e photo
sequence I was able to watch and examine, represented
a genuine storyboard of a magic play between light and
water, unlike any other photographic work I am aware of,
in Venezuela. Fishes of the Orinoco in the wild has a pinch
of that gurative expression in its pages. I wish potential
readers can see soon this remarkable production, full of
incredible shots and unique compositions that are only
possible through the esthetic intuition and the trained
eye of Ivan Mikolji, the explorer, the naturalist, the man
of technological avant-garde, the photographer, the writer
and the artist.
Ángel L. Viloria*
