The drawings were primarily done by Johan Friedrich August Krueger and Johan Friedrich Henning. What makes these prints stand out from most of the period and later, is not just the superb detail to the engraving but the attention spent on the hand coloring.
A monumental and beautiful work that continued to be a primary reference for the naturalists into the 19th century and is still admired today for its sumptuous illustrations. The plates reproduce the bright natural coloring of the fish, some of which were heightened with gold, silver or bronze to imitate the metallic sheen of scales. (Ref: Nissen, Schöne Fischbücher)