The Collection of Fishes serves as the official repository for specimens generated via research by faculty, students, and staff of the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M University. Our holdings may be searched by clicking here. Specimens in the Collection of Fishes are the result of expeditions and environmental surveys conducted by faculty, students, and biologists since 1937. The geographic coverage of specimens in the Collection of Fishes is impressive and includes 71 countries, and all 7 continents. Currently, the Collection of Fishes contains approximately over 875,697, distributed across 60,604 individual lots. Our collection now represents 4,071 species of fishes, from 1,595 genera and 366 families, representing 54 of the 57 recognized orders of fishes.
Seining for fishes in the Rio Grande, Big Bend National Park.
Fluid-preserved fishes at the BRTC.
The majority of specimens are fluid preserved and stored in glass jars, but over-sized specimens up to 12 feet are stored in larger tanks. Cleared and double stained specimens, dry skeleton preparations, otoliths, field notes, x-rays and illustrations make up some of the additional ichthyological resources available through the collection. The Collection of Fishes also curates tissue samples (suitable for DNA extraction) obtained from voucher specimens housed within the collection. Voucher specimens and tissues are available to researchers at other institutions by request (our loan policy can be accessed here). The genetic material for our specimens is curated in parallel and stored in ultra-cold freezers and is also available to researchers by request. To search for specimens with associated tissues, visit the Global Genomic Biodiversity Network site. Specimen images and x-rays hosted by the TAMU Libraries can be accessed here.
Contrast enhanced CT scan of whale shark Rhincodon typus) specimen TCWC 6895.01. Image credit Zach Randall, University of Florida.
As part of the NSF funded Digitization TCN: Collaborative Research: oVert: Open Exploration of Vertebrate Diversity in 3D (award #17014020) 218 specimens from the Collection of Fishes have been CT scanned. Included in the suite of specimens currently available are contrast enhanced scans. Datasets for these specimens are available via Morphosource.
Students examining specimens during Ichthyology lab at the BRTC.
Students from the University benefit from the collection in many ways. Courses in Ichthyology and Vertebrate Natural History utilize specimens for teaching. Students may also volunteer or complete their professional internship in the collection in order to receive experience and training in museum curation.
Fluid preserved (top) and cleared and stained (bottom) flatfishes. (photographed by Gary W. Lange, St. Louis)
The Collection of Fishes has received financial support from the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sea Grant Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and others.
Recent Publications
Britz, R., K. W. Conway, & L. Rüber. 2021. The emerging vertebrate model species for neurophysiological studies is Danionella cerebrum, new species (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Scientific Reports 11:18942.
Conway, K.W., K. Fujiwara, A. Summers, & H. Motomura. 2021. Erdmannichthys, a new genus of the Gobiesocidae (Teleostei: Gobiesociformes), and notes on the rare clingfish E. alorensis (Allen & Erdmann, 2012), new combination. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 69:428-437.
Conway, K.W., K. Kubicek, & R. Britz. 2021. Extreme evolutionary shifts in developmental timing establish the miniature Danionella as a novel model in the neurosciences. Developmental Dynamics 250:601-611.
Conway, KW., A.K. Pinion, & M. Kottelat. 2021. Two new species of Pethia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), representing a sympatric species pair, from the Ayeyarwady drainage, Myanmar. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 69:80-101. doi.org/10.3390/d13090430.
Fujiwara, K., & K. W. Conway. 2021. A replacement name for the acoelan flatworm genus Rimicola Böhmig (Acoela: Isodiametridae). Zootaxa 5068:149-150.
Fujiwara, K., K. W. Conway, & H. Motomura. 2021. Description of a new genus and two new species of Indo-Pacific clingfishes (Gobiesocidae: Diademichthyinae) with redescription and reassignment of two species previously assigned to Lepadichthys Waite, 1904. Ichthyology and Herpetology 109:753-784.
Fujiwara, K., K. W. Conway, & H. Motomura. 2021. First record of the Kermadec Clingfish, Flexor incus Conway, Stewart & Summers, 2018 (Gobiesocidae), from New Caledonia and Australia. Check List 17:769-773.
Fujiwara, K., K. W. Conway, A. Summers, & H. Motomura. 2021 Rediagnosis of the monotypic genus Lepadicyathus Prokofiev 2005 (Gobiesocidae: Diademichthyinae) and redescription of Lepadicyathus minor (Briggs 1955), new combination. Ichthyological Research: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-021-00851-