Australian Museum Ichthyology Collection Ichthyology is the
study of fishes. There are estimated to be over 32,500 species
of fishes worldwide and over 4,400 in Australia. Fishes are
cold-blooded (mostly) animals that have: - gills for breathing -
a backbone or a notochord (a cartilaginous rod) - fins (most
species but not all) - scales (most species but not all) About
the collection As one would expect, the Fish Research Collection
contains many adult and larval fish specimens. These are used by
researchers worldwide. The collection contains specimens from
all around the world, but has large holdings of fishes from the
deepsea and Indo-Pacific reefs as well as larval fishes, gobies
and freshwater fishes from New South Wales. Of particular
importance are the fish type specimens. These are the specimens
upon which the original scientific description of the relevant
species was based. The Australian Museum fish type collection is
one of the most important in the world, containing over 12,600
specimens* (over 52