Research

Neotropical Freshwater Fish Collection

Eldredge Bermingham, Heidi Banford, Andrew P. Martin and Vijay Aswani, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apdo. 2072, Balboa, Republic of Panama

Five years ago researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) created a small fish collection at the STRI Naos Laboratories in the Republic of Panama.

The collection was established in order to maintain and catalog fish specimens individually referenced to an associated collection of fish tissues suitable for research on the molecular systematics and biogeography of neotropical fishes. HB has served as the principal curator of the specimen collection in the past and continues to play a role in its development. The current curator is Rigoberto Gonzalez.

The STRI neotropical fish specimen and tissue collection contains extensive geographical series of fishes collected from lower Central America (LCA: extending from the Choco region of Colombia to the south shore of Lake Nicaragua, Costa Rica). The LCA holdings number 2839 tissues and associated numbered specimens representing 35 families, 85 genera and 162 species. In addition, many of the numbered specimens represent larger lots of unnumbered fishes in series of sufficient number for morphological analysis. The LCA collection includes samples representing 15 Caribbean and 23 Pacific slope drainages. The collection also includes modest holdings from the following regions: the Caribbean versant of Honduras; Trinidad; Rio Cuyabeno, Ecuador; Rio Manu, Peru; and the Parana/Paraguay drainages of Paraquay and Argentina.

The non-LCA holdings number 1506 tissues and associated numbered specimens representing 27 families, 135 genera and 185 species. In total, the STRI neotropical fish collection includes 4345 tissues and associated numbered specimens representing 40 families, 170 genera and 338 species. The STRI neotropical fish collection will make loans of both DNAs for molecular systematic analysis and numbered and unnumbered specimens for morphological analysis. However, the STRI collection receives no direct financial support and there is no paid collection manager. Thus, we are able to provide only a small number of loans each year. The development of STRI's neotropical fish collection has been supported by STRI's molecular systematics program, the Smithsonian Restricted Endowment, and National Geographic.

Eldredge Bermingham, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,
Apdo. 2072, Balboa, Republica de Panama
[US Mail address: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 0948, APO, AA 34002-0948 USA]
phone: (+ 507) 228 4039 fax: (+ 507) 228 0516
e-mail: eb@naos.si.edu

Heidi Banford played a central role in the creation and development of the STRI Neotropical Fish Collection. Heidi is now at Humboldt State University but continues to play a role in improving the STRI collection.