About Carlos & Allison Estape
Carlos and Allison Estapé are photographers, citizen scientists, and underwater naturalists. Our love for the sea has taken us all over the world and combined we have made thousands of dives in locations such as the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Galapagos, Baja, Revillagigedos, Cocos Island, Panama, Micronesia, Indonesia, Australia, the Coral Sea, Fiji, the Indian Ocean and the Florida Keys.
We are Citizen Scientists that photo document fish species in their natural habitat, collect geographical distribution data, publish our findings and images in scientific papers, and work with scientists to collect data and provide images for their research and publications. We are proud to be the #1 Citizen Scientist Contributors to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean website as well as for STRI's Fishes: East Pacific where we are co-authors of the the Spanish version. We have also authored/co-authored eight scientific papers, with more on the way.
Our current project is photo documenting fish species in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Tropical Western Atlantic. We recently returned from the Galapagos where we documented species bio-diversity by island for the East Pacific Corridor Alliance in conjuction with the Charles Darwin Research Station. In September of 2023 we coordinated and participated in a scientific expedition to the Midriff Islands in the Sea of Cortez and in November of 2022 we were part of the scientific expedition to the Revillagigedo Archipelago to collect and photo-document the biodiversity of the islands, including Clarion Island. During our stay in Bocas del Toro, Panama, we recorded a new fish species unknown to science. In 2022 we were the first to photo-document dozens of species in the Panamanian region of the Eastern Pacific. In July 2021 we documented a species in the Galapagos NOT KNOWN from the Eastern Pacific (Acanthurus mata), in fact the closest known range is 3,000mi/5,000km away! In June 2022 we co-authored a paper on the marine fishes of the USVIs where we photographed 27 fish species not known to be in these waters and in December 2020, we published our findings from St. Eustatius where we documented 40 fish species that had not been previously recorded – a demonstration of the effectiveness of citizen science collaboration!
We are Underwater Naturalists and Featured Speakers who have entertained and educated audiences on fish behavior and identification across a wide range of marine focused events, month long international festivals, museum and marine park programs, and monthly educational classes. We created the 100fishid educational website to promote citizen science by enabling divers, snorkelers and marine biology students to improve their fish ID skills.
Our Images have been featured internationally in websites/apps, scientific publications, museums, aquariums, fish ID books, textbooks, children’s books, magazines, interpretive displays, restaurants, dive shops, private collections and more.
We have been recognized by the Smithsonian Institution for our:
- “outstanding contributions… to the Smithsonian Institution’s research”,
- “exceptional talents as field photographers”,
- “extraordinary work to capture images of live marine fishes in different parts of the Caribbean and Tropical Eastern Pacific”.
The Smithsonian Institution considers our image library to be “a priceless heritage” that “will only become more valuable in the future as documentation of marine life today.”
Kudos from Dr. William Ludt, NHMLA. re Scientific expedition to the Revillagigedos Archipelago:
This trip wouldn't have been possible without Dr. Carlos Sanchez at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, Dr. Ross Robertson, and also the tireless efforts of Allison Morgan Estape and Carlos Estape, community scientists and underwater photographers extraordinaire.
New species discovered during the expedition, Halichoeres sanchezi.
New species discovered during the expedition, Halichoeres sanchezi.
And from our St. Eustatius paper:
"However, the increase in numbers of shallow cryptobenthic species at Statia from 2017 to 2020 does show that organized searching by skilled citizen scientists can contribute substantially to knowledge of cryptobenthic species. The activities of CJE and AME added 33 shallow cryptobenthic species to the checklist, 31% of the total and 85% of the new records for that ecogroup in the 2020 fauna, and equivalent to 49% of the number present in the Statia17 fauna (Tables 1, 2)."
Scientific Papers (follow the links below to learn more):
Documenting Reef-fish Biodiversity in the Revillagigedos Archipelago, Pacific Mexico, November 2022
An updated, illustrated inventory of the marine fishes of the US Virgin Islands
D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor
A review of 263 years of taxonomic research on Hypoplectrus (Perciformes: Serranidae), with a redescription of Hypoplectrus affinis (Poey, 1861)
Documenting Reef-fish Biodiversity in the Revillagigedos Archipelago, Pacific Mexico, November 2022
An updated, illustrated inventory of the marine fishes of the US Virgin Islands
D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor
A review of 263 years of taxonomic research on Hypoplectrus (Perciformes: Serranidae), with a redescription of Hypoplectrus affinis (Poey, 1861)
The Indo-Pacific damselfish Neopomacentrus cyanomos at Trinidad, southeast Caribbean
Robertson DR, Kingon KC, Baksh S, Estapé CJ, Estapé AM (2021)
Aquatic Invasions 16, https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2021.16.2.03
Robertson DR, Kingon KC, Baksh S, Estapé CJ, Estapé AM (2021)
Aquatic Invasions 16, https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2021.16.2.03
The marine fishes of St. Eustatius Island, northeastern Caribbean: an annotated, photographic catalog
D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J Estapé, Allison Morgan Estapé, Ernesto Peña, Luke Tornabene, Carole C. Baldwin; ZooKeys 30 Dec 2020 https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1007.58515
The fishes of Alligator Reef and environs in the Florida Keys: a 2020 update
Carlos J. Estapé, Allison Morgan Estapé & Walter A. StarckJournal of the Ocean Science Foundation, Volume 36, 3 November 2020 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4243097
An update to the inventory of shore-fishes from the Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano, Veracruz, México
D Ross Robertson1, Horacio Perez-España2, Omar Dominguez-Dominguez3, Carlos J Estapé4, Allison Morgan Estapé4 ZooKeys 23 Oct 2019 https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.882.38449
The fishes of Alligator Reef and environs in the Florida Keys: a half-century update
Walter A Starck II, Carlos J. Estapé & Allison Morgan Estapé
Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, Volume 27, 29 August 2017; http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.851651
Underwater Naturalists / Featured Speakers
Smithsonian Tropical Research Center, Panama, 2023
South Florida Underwater Photography Society featured gallery, September 2022
Panama Dive Center, Santa Catalina, Panama, 2022
Palapas Ventana Resort, Baja California Sur, Mexico 2021
IKELITE featured gallery, 2021
The University of Trinidad and Tobago, 2021 online webinar
Charles Darwin Research Center, Galapagos 2021
Academy Bay Diving, Galapagos, 2021
Seahorse Festival & Great Fish Count Festival 2018-2019, CoCoView Resort, Roatan
100 Fish Behavior & ID Classes, Monthly Presentations 2014–2019, REEF.org, FL
Delicate Balance of Nature Series 2014, 2017, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, FL
Immerse Yourself Lecture Series 2016, 2017, 2019, History of Diving Museum, FL
Our images have been used in:
Educational Websites:
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system & App
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institutes's Fishes: East Pacific online information system & app
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institutes's Fishes: East Pacific online information system & app
Monaco Nature Encyclopedia website; Dr. Guiseppe Mazza
Killi-Data Online, information on extant oviparous and viviparous Killies or Cyprinodontiformes
Scientific Papers, Educational Programs, Annual Reports:
The Evolution of Egg Trading in Simultaneous Hermaphrodites; The American Naturalist, Volume 195, Number 3 March 2020
How new species arise in the sea; Tropicos, Pg 31, The Magazine of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
How some Fishes have Adapted to the Ocean; The Experts are Online, Smithsonian Distance Learning, May 2020
Long-term Monitoring at East and West Flower Garden Banks: 2018 Annual Report, NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries
ECOLOGY: Aquatic animal telemetry: A panoramic window into the underwater world, June 2015, Science 348(6240):1221
Educational Materials & Exhibit Signage
Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, OR – Won a National Outdoor Exhibit Award for a panel with our diving cormorant image
Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, FL
American Museum of Natural History, NY
New York State Museum, NY
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, CA
Aquarium at Moody Gardens, TX
Apps, Books, Magazines, Newspapers
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Fishes: Greater Caribbean app
Easy Fish ID App by John Hoover
REEF Fish Identification Florida Caribbean, Bahamas (Humann/DeLoach),
Newspapers/Magazines/Newsletters/Blogs: Ikelite Miami Herald, Nature, Keys Dive Traveler, Scuba Diving, Alert Diver, Outdoor Fishing Magazine, American Fly Fishing.