How does the UW Fish Collection compare to other similar collections?
Based on a survey of North American fish collections, conducted by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (see S. G. Poss and B. B. Collette, 1995, “Second survey of fish collections in the United States and Canada,” Copeia, 1995(1): 48-70), the UW collection is ranked 20th among 118 North American ichthyological resource centers and 5th among all regional ichthyological resource centers in North America. We are listed 12th among all ranked collections in species diversity, 9th in federal support dollars received for collection upgrade and maintenance, 5th among all ranked collections in exchange activity, and 3rd in holdings of early life history stages (roughly tied with the American Museum of Natural History in New York). We are awaiting the results of a similar survey conducted in 2006.
