Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

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Vertebrate Zoology Home

Vertebrate Zoology: Fish Collections

• History and Major Collection Donors: The fish collection consists of both marine and fresh water species from regional watersheds and ocean waters of the Southern California Bight. The collection originated through the efforts of a UCSB graduate student in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The general philosophy behind the collection was to maintain a regional reference collection since UCSB has a large collection and there seemed no need to duplicate the University's holdings. Notables over the years are the unusual marine fish donated by local commercial fisherman, Ralph Hazard. There is one voucher collection from a UCSB study of the Pt. Mugu Lagoon.

• Collection Highlights: Among the unusual species are several Popeye Catalufa (Pseudopriacanthus serrula), a skeletonized Oarfish (Regalecus glesne), a Longnose Lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox) and a Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris). The collection also includes a small comparative section of otoliths from common local species. These otoliths are very useful in determining stomach content analysis during marine mammal necropsies as well as during archaeological fauna analysis.

• Geographic Coverage: This is a moderately comprehensive collection; mostly regional in focus with a good representation of more common neritic marine species and a few rare species.

Collection Manager: Krista Fahy, Associate Curator