IMIS

The University of Washington Fish Collection (UWFC, http://uwfishcollection.org/) database includes the taxonomic information and locality data for the cataloged lots of preserved fishes held in the collection. The adult collection now totals over 296,000 specimens in over 40,700 lots, representing some 4,054 species in 1,331 genera, and 306 families. Approximately 1000 new lots are added every year. Roughly 75% of the collection is made up of marine fishes, primarily from the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean, extending from Baja California, across the Aleutian and Kuril island chains, to the Philippines. The collection also includes smaller numbers of lots from many other localities around the world. The early life history collection currently contains over 6.9 million specimens in over 76,600 lots and is growing at a rate of 3,000 to 5,000 lots a year. Fifty-four families, 178 genera, and 401 species are represented. Most were collected in the eastern North Pacific, primarily from the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, and off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Approximately 80% of the lots were collected between 1965 and 1998 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), but significant material has also come from the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, the International Pacific Halibut Commission, and the Vancouver Public Aquarium. Habitats ranging from near-shore reef and intertidal communities to outer oceanic waters are represented.