Fish live in nearly all aquatic habitats: in Tibet loaches are found in hot springs at 5,200 m above sea level, in Lake Titicaca
- the highest large lake of the world (3,812 m above sea level) - several species of killifishes live, and the deep-sea specialists
are to be met as deep as 7,000 m below surface. Besides strictly freshwater or marine fishes we know about 200 species, spending
their lives partly in fresh and partly in salt water (e.g. eel, salmon).
Some species developed organs for air-breathing which enable them to survive out of water, e.g. in seasonally drying up swamps,
and others even undertake regular excursions on dry land (e.g. mudskippers).
Fishes are extremely important to man, on the one hand as food (exploitation of natural resources, aquaculture), on the other
hand for recreation and leisure activities (game fishing, aquariums). They also serve as indicator species for water pollution.
The scientific fish collection
Holdings
- Nearly 1.000,000 alcohol-preserved specimens (c. 150,000 lots)
- About 1,800 skeletons (mounted or disarticulated on plates).
- About 2,000 taxidermy specimens.
Type collection
Some 2,000 species are vouched by type specimens.
Some 2,000 species are vouched by type specimens.
Special features
Material from South America (Natterer, Steindachner); Heckel-, Kner-, Steindachner-types.
Use of the scientific collection/Loan of scientific material
Examination of our holdings is possible at NHM by arrangement. Because of losses of material and several not-returned specimens
in the past no more loans are available. Only tissue samples can be sent by mail by appointment.
Catalogue
70 % of the holdings are catalogued on card-index (binary names sorted alphabetically). Special card-indices exist for the skeleton collection, taxidermy specimens and for type specimens. Computer cataloguing has started in 1998.
