Sandelia bainsii

The department houses important historical collections of southern African freshwater fishes. Coverage is excellent especially from the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces and Kwazulu-Natal. The collections incorporate theholdings of the Natal Museum, which date from 1905, and the South African Museum, which date from 1875. The first major collection of freshwater fishes was made by Dr Rex Jubb in 1931. He and his wife worked at the Museum between 1959 - 1980 and produced the first book on the freshwater fishes of southern Africa.

 The collection comprises 14 200 accessions which total some 250 000 specimens, mostly stored in alcohol. Type specimens are housed separately.There is a growing collection of early life history stages of fishes whichincludes eggs, embryos and larval fish. These are all well documented withdrawings and photographs, an essential prerequisite, in view of the dynamic nature of development. To supplement the wet collections there are skeletal,x-ray and colour slide collections. Copies of original collection sheets are also maintained and the entire collection database is computerised.

 The collections are accessed by both national and international ichthyologists as well as by post-graduate students, and have recently been used by consultants involved in ecological impact assessments. The early life history data play an important role in evolutionary and conservation research and have been used to assess the status of Red Data Book species, of alien introductions and for establishing where the "hotspots" of endemism and species diversity occur in South Africa.

The computerised database is regularly accessed by the Natal Parks Board, Nature Conservation Departments in both the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces, University of Cape Town Freshwater Research Unit researchers and by consultants. Sections of the collection are also available for use by the Museum's Education and Display Departments.

The Albany Museum's close association with Rhodes University's Institute for Water Research, the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science and the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity make the collections important for study in a number of related research fields. Additional information on fishes maybe gleaned from the Ichthyology Web Resources site.