Ichthyology collections span the globe. Most of them can be found
in museums of natural history. The museum for which you work contains a wide
variety of fish. Below you will find a very specific description of its collection.
As
an ichthyologist employed by the museum, you are asked to compose a 200-word
summary of the collection that will be used as the text of a pamphlet. This
pamphlet will be given to visitors on tours of the museum.
Description
of the Collection
The ichthyological collection of the Florida
Museum of Natural History was ranked as the 10th most important fish specimen
resource in North America and the second-highest ranking national center.
Since that survey was completed, another 65,000-lot collection was transferred
and is being integrated into the collection from the University of Miami.
The museum may now warrant recognition as an international center.
The
collection contains 135,000 cataloged lots (about 1,350,000 specimens), plus
approximately 70,000 identified and labeled, but uncataloged lots (about 700,000
specimens) shelved alongside the former. We have not been able to formally
catalogu these lots because of manpower constraints, but they are readily
available for study. In addition, there is an unsorted backlog of about 25,000
lots (about 250,000 specimens). Most of the uncataloged and backlog material
was acquired through transfer of the important collections previously housed
at the federal biological laboratories. The collection contains primary and
secondary types of more than 325 types of freshwater and marine fishes.
The
osteological collection comprises 2,500 lots of disarticulated skeletons representing
over 320 species. Skeletal holdings emphasize the southeastern United States,
Caribbean, Central American and northwestern South American ichthyofaunas.
Representative specimens of over 200 species have been cleared and stained.
A radiograph collection and the original field notes of numerous individuals
and organizations are maintained.