Aesthetic value represents one of the most immediate and direct means by which human societies engage with biodiversity, and can be critical drivers of conservation investment. Here, we provide the aesthetic value of 2,417 ray-finned reef fish species by combining intensive evaluation of photographs of fishes by humans with predicted values from machine learning.
We identified important biases in species aesthetic value relating to evolutionary history, ecological traits, and IUCN threat status. The most beautiful fishes are tightly packed into small parts of both the phylogenetic tree and the ecological trait space.
In contrast, the less attractive fishes are the most ecologically and evolutionary distinct species and those recognized as threatened. Our study highlights likely important mismatches between potential public support for conservation and the species most in need of this support.
