ICHTHYOLOGY SECTION

The fish collection holds about one third of the 25,000 known species. Both fresh- and saltwater species from all over the world are represented. Especially rich collections come from the Danish marine expeditions "Ingolf", "Dana", "Atlantide" and "Galathea". The following collections should be emphazised:

 FISHES EXCL. MYCTOPHIDAE

FISHES: MYCTOPHIDAE

Forsskål's Herbarium

During the Danish expedition to the Red Sea "The Arabian Journey" (1761-1767) Peter Forsskål collected and described 151 species of fish. Today material of 65 species remains, of which 58 are types (cf. Klausewitz and Nielsen 1965). The collection consists of dried skins with a few remaining bones (Types from Forsskål's Herbarium can be found in The Type Collection Database).

Fishes from Greenland

For about 200 years fishes have been collected in Greenlandic waters. Consequently the collection holds representatives of almost all species reported from Greenland, often in large series. The material treated by Adolf S. Jensen is included here.

Larval fishes

This collection is dominated by larvae from tropical and subtropical coastal areas and from oceanic and deep-sea fishes. By far the major part was collected during the "Dana" cruises.

Deep-sea fishes

The main sources are the "Dana" and "Galathea" expeditions. During the circumnavigation in 1928-30 the "Dana" used pelagic, fine-meshed gear, often down to about 1000 meters, which resulted in an exceptionally rich collection of both larvae and small, adult, mesopelagic fishes. During the circumnavigation in 1950-52, the "Galathea" used coarse-meshed bottom-gear down to the greatest depths, so the result is dominated by large bottom-living fishes.

Types

The type collection holds about 1500 primary and secondary types. FISH TYPES