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LOBSTERS that live on mountains, fish with top hats on their bellies and mermaids that utter mouse-like cries. Welcome to the weird world of Samuel Fallours.

In 1719, Fallours published the world鈥檚 first colour catalogue of fish. A soldier turned clergyman鈥檚 assistant, he lived on the island of Ambon in what is now Indonesia. The fish he painted were caught off Ambon in the Banda Sea. This area lies at the heart of the Coral Triangle, which is thought to contain more marine species than any other region of the world.

Just 100 copies of his catalogue were published, making it 鈥渙ne of the rarest natural history books on Earth鈥�, says , a professor of marine science at the University of Washington in Seattle who has assembled the plates into a new book, .

When Europeans were confronted with Fallours鈥檚 images, many doubted that such brightly coloured species existed, so flamboyant were they, compared with the drab creatures found in European waters.

They were right to be sceptical. 鈥淔allours applied colour, more often than not, in a totally arbitrary fashion,鈥� says Pietsch. In the plate above, the dull stonefish (number 37) can be seen decked out by Fallours in vivid reds, yellows and blues. He also embellished the flanks of fish with suns, moons, stars and pots of flowering plants. Look closely at the wrasse at number 38 and you鈥檒l see images of three human heads topped by red hats.

鈥淔allours probably invented some of the extraordinary beasts he painted and a few outlandish stories to go with them in order to attract European collectors with an eye for the bizarre,鈥� says Pietsch. For example, Fallours claimed that the , Panulirus ornatus, lived in the mountains, climbed trees, ate fruit and laid red-spotted, blue eggs 鈥渁s large as those of a pigeon鈥�.

Yet Pietsch insists that it would be unduly harsh to dismiss Fallours鈥檚 paintings as having no scientific merit. He estimates that only 10 per cent of the paintings are imaginary. The rest can be identified to species, genus or family level.

The paintings are valuable for another reason, too. 鈥淎mbon鈥檚 harbour is now with sewage, bottles, cans and plastic bags,鈥� Pietsche says. 鈥淭he kinds of fish that live there have probably changed since Fallours鈥檚 time,鈥� making this an invaluable if slightly whimsical record.