Built through the contributions and support of many people, WEB Fish Encyclopedia has also become a resource for fish research. To keep it open and sustainable, we became a nonprofit organization registered in Tokyo in December 2025. We look forward to continuing this work with you.
WEB Fish Encyclopedia began in 1998 as an early community-contributed online fish encyclopedia. For more than 27 years, anglers, divers, researchers, and others interested in fish have added photos and knowledge. Contributors submit observations, people identify them, and a dedicated system preserves the results.
In recent years, falling advertising revenue and rising development costs have made it difficult even for large media sites to operate without prominent ads. Zukan.com, Inc., which provides the system behind WEB Fish Encyclopedia, has also faced difficulties improving and developing it.
We formed a nonprofit organization to preserve the encyclopedia's more than 67,000 fish photos and records for the long term. We will continue working with the community to make it more useful and engaging.
Anyone can contribute a record. Once identified, it can become shared knowledge. Anyone can browse the encyclopedia, too; we continue to improve it for everyone from specialists to children.
A photograph becomes useful as a record only when the fish is correctly identified. More than 67,000 records have been identified one by one by people and stored in the encyclopedia.
Answering a single question can mean more than an hour of checking references, or asking a specialist for help. This careful work has built a rare resource for fish research.
Alongside the online encyclopedia, staff and members collect and observe fish and prepare specimens. Work sometimes runs late into the night, so meals are usually cooked together. Preparing food with fish collected on site is part of the experience.
We observe and collect fish and record their surroundings. Firsthand observations can sometimes lead to discoveries of new or undescribed species.
Collected fish may be preserved as specimens. We sometimes examine their form and features under a microscope to identify and document them.
Meetups range from specialist gatherings to fishing trips. Unusual finds, of course, belong in the encyclopedia.
Anglers, divers, researchers, contributors, and staff use WEB Fish Encyclopedia in their activities and learning. The following are translated excerpts from messages originally submitted in Japanese.
I became interested in fish as a child and began studying local species in junior high school. I found WEB Fish Encyclopedia when I still knew very little. With the support of the staff, I continued my research and received a top award for a poster presentation at Kyushu University last year. I now help run the encyclopedia and am deeply grateful for this connection.
While teaching at a university in Samoa through JICA, I took many underwater photographs at a snorkeling site. I found WEB Fish Encyclopedia while trying to identify those fish. I have since learned a great deal from researchers and more experienced members.
For about 20 years I have collected fish otoliths and sea bream bones. When I find a species I cannot identify, WEB Fish Encyclopedia is my first stop. I have received help with many identifications, and I upload photos both in thanks and to help others.
WEB Fish Encyclopedia is essential to my work. I post photos when I encounter a rare fish or a scene characteristic of Okinoerabu Island. I also use it to avoid confusing similar species. Information gathered online from many regions can make the encyclopedia more accurate.
I have loved fishing for nearly 80 years, since kindergarten. The encyclopedia is indispensable when identifying a catch. Its users include experts and amateurs from many regions; learning their different views adds to the pleasure of understanding fish.
One of my favorite parts of fishing is encountering a species new to me. When I post a question about a catch that seems unusual, specialists explain the features used to identify it. I am grateful to the staff who maintain the system.
Since its founding in 1998, people who love fish have helped build WEB Fish Encyclopedia. It is an important place for me. There is a special excitement in knowing that one of my own posts may help someone discover something and become part of the encyclopedia.
I love catching, watching, and eating fish. This is a place where I can comfortably ask what an unfamiliar fish is, including whether it might be poisonous.
I know a fair number of fish, but sometimes I catch one I have never seen before. That is when WEB Fish Encyclopedia comes in handy.
Whenever I catch a rare fish, I check the site. I appreciate how much information is available.
This site has taught me a great deal about how to identify and look at fish. I am very grateful.
I enjoy looking at the site on a school computer. I would love to join a meetup if there is one.
These goals depend on the everyday work of identifying fish and maintaining and improving the system.
Data from WEB Fish Encyclopedia have been used in basic fish research. Papers also discuss the potential of online community activity for fish research and citizen science.