Ichthyology Department
Ichthyology has been a part of research at the Academy since its beginnings, but its importance has increased dramatically since 1898 when it acquired the entire personal collection of the famous 19th century naturalist Edward Drinker Cope and Henry Weed Fowler became its first full-time curator. (See History of the Department.)
The collection has continued to grow in size, scope, and importance; the department is now rated as one of the top five ichthyology centers in North America. It currently houses 1.2 million cataloged specimens representing an estimated 11,000 species and 2,797 primary types. The collection is taxonomically diverse, but its especially strong among eels, characiforms and catfish. Its geographic scope is world-wide, but it's strengths include freshwater species of North and South America and marine species of the Bahamas, Western Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Continued growth results from recent expeditions to the Bahamas, South America and Asia. (See more About the Collection.)
John G. Lundberg () is the department's Curator and Chaplin Chair of Ichthyology. Mark Sabaj Pérez () is the Collection Manager. See Department Staff for more information on current staff and affiliates. See Collections Policies for more information on collection access, loan policy and specimen accession.
Online Collection Catalog
The ANSP Ichthyology Online Collection Database contains 129,122 records of specimens from the collection.
All Catfish Species Inventory
The All Catfish Species Inventory (ACSI) (silurus.ansp.org/) is a multi-institutional effort to inventory the world's catfishes (Siluriformes). The project will ultimately provide identification guides, atlases, catalogs, checklists, phylogenies and a complete taxonomy for this diverse and widely distributed group. John Lundberg and Mark Sabaj are Co-Principle Investigators for the project. Their work involves expeditions to collect catfishes in poorly known places around the world. To see the fishes and places sampled during Mark's 2006 Expedition to Mongolia, visit: silurus.ansp.org/ACSI/field/Mongolia2006.
Catfish Bones: A Digital Atlas of Catfish Morphology
Catfish Bones (catfishbone.ansp.org/) is a Web-based resource produced by the Ichthyology Department to provide digital images of catfish morphology for research, education and appreciation of the rich diversity of life.
Neodat II
The Academy of Natural Sciences is a participating institution of The Inter-Institutional Database of Fish Biodiversity in the Neotropics (NEODAT II) (www.neodat.org). It's an international cooperative effort to make systematic and geographic data on museum specimens of Neotropical fishes available online.