Last year, one of the folks who works in exhibits let me know that the model of a juvenile Emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) on exhibit in Live Science was missing an eye.This particular fish is painted plaster with glass eyes. No problem, I thought, I can just order a new one and stick it on there. Glass eyes of every species are available from taxidermy shops online.

Well, make that nearly every species. I could not find this particular eye, or any even remotely close to the size and color. I realized that I would have to make some kind of a custom eye for this fish. When I looked closely at the missing eye, the spot was concave. This gave me the idea to use a dry, painted contact lens to fill the role of angelfish eye.

Soft contact lenses are made from silicone hydrogels, which are inert. I thought this might just do the trick. I left out a contact lens to dry up, then cut it to fit and painted the inside with paint to match the other one. I used black apoxy to fit it on the fish. It looks great! It was about a year ago that I did this work, and it has held up just fine.