A small portion of the INHS Fish Collection preserved in ethanol.
The INHS Fish Collection is the 15th largest collection of preserved fishes in North America and contains approximately 765,000 specimens representing 2,000 species in 142 families. The geographic scope of the collection is about 50% from Illinois, 30% from elsewhere in North America, 18% from South America, and 2% from other parts of the world. Included are collections from 47 of the 50 states and 23 foreign countries.
A small portion of the INHS Fish Collection preserved in ethanol.
Among the collection's most valuable holdings are its type specimens. When a species is described as new to science, the author designates type specimens to serve as permanent physical representations of the species' scientific name. The fish collection contains 70 primary type specimens representing 34 named species and 2 subspecies. Included are 10 species described from Illinois in the late 1800s by Stephen A. Forbes, the first Chief of the Survey.
The fish collection was established in the late 1800s to provide documentation for the original survey of the fishes of Illinois (published in 1909 by S.A. Forbes and R.E. Richardson). A second survey (The Fishes of Illinois published in 1979 by P. W. Smith), designed to examine changes in fish populations since the first survey, was conducted in the mid-1900s and added 286,000 specimens to the collection. Many specimens from the early surveys are from areas where the species no longer occur and, therefore, provide irreplaceable distributional and ecological information. A third survey to look at changes in the distributions and abundances of fishes in the past 100 years is under way and will rely heavily on information associated with collection-housed specimens from the earlier surveys.
The first survey documented the presence in Illinois of 187 native and one non-native species. From specimens collected during the second survey we know that by 1978 the number of native species of fishes reproducing in Illinois had dropped to 179 and the number of non-native species had risen to 6. Recent data suggest that only 176 of our native fishes remain, many surviving species are undergoing large changes in their distributions, and the number of non-native species reproducing in Illinois has increased to 12. Most of the changes are results of anthropogenic effects such as increased sedimentation, channelization, pollution (particularly from nonpoint sources such as agricultural fertilizers and pesticides), and introductions of non-native species.
Orange-spotted sunfish drawing from Forbes and
Richardson's the Fishes of Illinois published in 1909.
Environmental impacts on Illinois species do not result only from activities occurring within the borders of the state. Specimens from other geographic areas not only help us understand changes taking place in Illinois, but increase the usefulness of the collection to ichthyologists throughout North America and abroad. Recent collections from South America in particular have increased the collection's loan activity over the past two years by 45% and established the Survey as the seventh largest collection of Neotropical fishes in North America. The Neotropical specimens also enhance the collection's attractiveness to visiting elementary school students hoping to see and touch a real, albeit dead, piranha or electric eel.
Lawrence M. Page and Mark H. Sabaj, Center for Biodiversity
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