Relocation, Curation and Improvement of the VIMS Fish Collection

威廉和玛丽学院弗吉尼亚海洋科学研究所的鱼类收藏为淡水、河口和海洋鱼类的分类、系统和生态调查提供了重要资源。该收藏的独特性部分是由于其历史意义以及与鱼类学强大的研究生课程密切相关。收藏有国际公认的切萨皮克湾，大西洋中部湾和深水海洋鱼类，以及南部阿巴拉契亚山脉的淡水鱼。这些收藏为许多机构的系统学家的许多研究生研究项目和调查提供了基础。此外，从切萨皮克湾、大西洋中部湾和加勒比海地区迅速扩大的鱼类早期生活史阶段的收集，为个体发生研究提供了重要而独特的材料来源。由于缺乏存储和有效处理标本的空间，以及缺乏适当管理的策展人员，鱼类收藏的效用受到了限制。资金已被承诺用于建造一座新建筑，以永久容纳鱼类收藏。该项目将协助完成新建筑的存储能力，并重新安置和管理收藏。该项目的完成将极大地加强这一系统资源，并有助于其长期保存。这项工作的主要研究者是优秀的。该机构提供的设施和工作环境将有助于顺利完成这项工作。这项工作的成果将为基础生物学研究以及养护生物学和渔业管理方面的努力提供持久和宝贵的资源。

The fish collection housed at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary provides an important resource for taxonomic, systematic and ecological investigations of freshwater, estuarine and marine fishes. The uniqueness of the collection is in part due to its historical significance as well as a close coupling with a strong graduate program in ichthyology. The collection has internationally recognized holdings of Chesapeake Bay, middle Atlantic Bight and deep-water marine fishes, as well as freshwater fishes of the southern Appalachians. These collections have provided the basis for numerous graduate research projects and investigations by systematists from many institutions. In addition, rapidly expanding collections of early life history stages of fishes from Chesapeake Bay, middle Atlantic Bight and Caribbean localities offer an important and unique source of material for ontogenetic studies. The utility of the fish collection has been limited by a lack of space to store and efficiently work with speciments, and the lack of a curatorial staff to manage it properly. Funds have been committed for the construction of a new building to house the the fish collection permanently. This project will assist in complet- ing storage capabilities of the new building and in relocating and curating the collection. Completion of the project will dramatically enhance this systematic resource and contribute to its long term preservation. The principal investigators for this work are excellent. The facilities and working environment provided by the institution will be conducive to successful completion of the efforts. The product of the work will provide an enduring and valuable resource for basic biological research as well as for efforts in conservation biology and fishery management.