Approximate numbers of cataloged specimens, lots, and species in major US fish collections
Updates, corrections, additions, and questions can be sent to Mark Sabaj (mhs58@drexel.edu). Excel file of data available here for download.
Code
Name
Specimens
Lots
Species
Annotations
Source
UW
University of Washington, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, WA
13,000,000
210,000
4,300
includes 10M eggs/larvae + 2.6M pairs of otoliths
Katherine Pearson Maslenikov, 7 May 2025
TU
Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection, Tulane University, Belle Chase, LA
7,413,209
204,222
3,758
Justin Mann, 9 May 2025
MSB
Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
5,085,506
130,379
530
Emily S. DeArmon, 14 May 2025
UMMZ
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, MI
3,569,403
260,382
11,837
pending more accurate counts
J. Albornoz Garzon, 8 May 2025
LACM
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
3,000,000
179,115
18,000
excludes ~2 million uncataloged eggs/larvae
Todd Clardy, 7 May 2025
USNM
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Washington, DC
2,775,985
464,881
19,077
total no. of specimens often not recorded for lots with >100 (2012 estimate was 6.2M specimens)
Jeffrey Clayton & Diane Pitassy, 8 & 12 May 2025
UF
University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH), Gainesville, FL
2,565,524
239,997
8,211
excludes lots based on tissues/photos only (no voucher); species count based on distinct binomials
Basil Williams & Robert Robins, 8 May 2025
AMNH
American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
2,391,305
206,643
14,896
specimen count excludes estimated 700,000 backlog (uncataloged) specimens
Ryan Thoni, 7 May & 2 June 2025
CAS
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA
2,200,000
219,157
13,771
Luiz Rocha, 13 May 2025
OMNH
University of Oklahoma, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK
1,996,470
57,983
492
Rebecca K. Hawkins, 12 May 2025
MCZ
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
1,906,486
179,240
13,500
species count is rough estimate
Andrew Williston, 7 May 2025
FMNH
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL
1,700,000
132,015
—
Caleb McMahan, 16 May 2025
ANSP
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, PA
1,665,048
157,147
15,000
excludes lots cataloged with 0 specimens; ~12% of subsample of 3,000 “species” were not unique or not identified to species; count reflects ~83% of 18,161 total “species.”
Mark Sabaj, 7 & 29 May 2025
UAIC
Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
1,595,548
128,799
2,433
counts include former GSA collection now at UAIC
M. Worth Pugh, 8 May 2025
SIO
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
1,510,036
116,287
5,961
specimen and lot counts include "discards" and "gifts" for which some specimens were retained at SIO
Benjamin Frable, 13 May 2025
TNHC
University of Texas Biodiversity Collections (UTBC), The University of Texas at Austin, TX
1,500,000
81,213
1,666
specimen count is minimum estimate
Dean Hendrickson, 7 May 2025
OSUM
Museum of Biological Diversity, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
1,500,000
121,500
—
NCSM
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC
1,347,633
114,871
3,201
Gabriela M. Hogue, 7 May 2025
INHS
Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
1,346,476
173,328
2,900
species count is estimate
Enrique Santoyo Brito, 8 May 2025
CUMV
Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, Ithaca, NY
1,322,003
100,318
4,280
counts do not include SLU collection to be acquired in 2025
Casey Dillman & Victor de Brito, 12 May 2025
PSU
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
1,200,000
13,462
600
species count is minimum estimate
Jay Stauffer, Jr., 13 May 2025
AUM
Auburn University Museum of Natural History, Auburn, AL
1,000,000
88,000
4,700
David Werneke, 7 May 2025
TCWC
Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections (BRTC), Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
993,086
65,518
4,111
MMNS
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, Jackson, MS
965,000
63,415
—
Singer et al. (2018) reported 1,015,618 specimens
OSUS
Oklahoma State University, Department of Biology, Stillwater, OK
814,693
30,540
1,122
Fabio Machado, 20 May 2025
MPM
Milwaukee Public Museum, Vertebrate Zoology, Milwaukee, WI
685,000
35,000
—
Julia Colby, 16 Apr 2025
MLZ
Occidental College, Moore Laboratory of Zoology, Los Angeles, CA
626,575
23,247
1,100
includes fish, otoliths, larval fish and DNA samples; species count is estimated
Daniel Pondella, 30 May 2025
KUI
University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, Lawrence, KS
542,831
43,741
2,660
Andy Bentley, 7 May 2025 (website)
UTEIC
Etnier Ichthyological Collection, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
450,000
46,948
2,600
specimen and species counts are estimates
Jennifer Brummett, 21 May 2024
VIMS
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, VA
404,026
49,169
2,206
Sarah K. Huber, 8 May 2025
LSUMZ
Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, Baton Rouge, LA
392,718
22,491
2,861
David Boyd, 29 May 2025
YPM
Yale University, Peabody Museum, New Haven, CT
341,905
78,481
4,757
Gregory Watkins-Colwell, 9 May 2025
JFBM
James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
296,952
41,827
2,079
Kassandra Ford, pers. comm. 9 May 2025 [from Arctos database]
OS
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
182,245
26,860
2,092
Michael Burns & Alvaro Cortes, 8 May 2025
UAFMC
University of Arkansas Collections Facility, Fayetteville, AR
157,858
—
—
Singer, Love & Page 2018)
BPBM
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Department of Zoology, Honolulu, HI
113,000
42,000
5,200
counts are estimates
Calder J. Atta, 2 June 2025
GMBL
Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
100,000
25,000
900
species count is rough estimate
Anthony Harold, 12 May 2025
GCRL
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, The University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, MS
awaiting estimates
Sara LeCroy