Overview
Most fishes in the National Fish Collection (NFC) have been acquired over the last 40 years, so they are in excellent condition, and include an unusually high proportion of medium to large sized specimens preserved in 50% isopropanol. 15% of the NFC's specimens are held in 1090 20-litre drums and 12% are held in 170, 250 or 500 L mobile tanks. The very largest specimens, including several 2-3 m long sharks and gropers, are held in three 1700 or 2000 L fixed tanks. Small fishes, comprising 73% of the collection, are held in glass jars with 70 ml to 2 L of 70% ethanol.
The wet collection facility has been recently re-developed to revised Health & Safety standards, and to ensure the protection of these national treasures by limiting their risk of exposure to fire and damage from seismic activity. The collection environment is stable and held at a controlled 18°C (+/- 1.5°C) and 50% RH (+/- 7.5%). Alcohol concentrations are monitored regularly to ensure standards are maintained.
Almost all of the Fish collection is electronically databased.