Fungus Removal and Rehousing of the Ichthyology and Herpetology Skeletal Collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

在Christine Thacker博士的指导下，洛杉矶县自然历史博物馆获得了一笔赠款，用于部分支持一个项目，以清理和重新安置鱼类学和爬行动物学的骨骼收藏品，以及防治鱼类学骨骼收藏品中的曲霉真菌侵扰。这些部分总共保存了大约5200,000个标本(500万条鱼和200,000个两栖和爬行动物)，包括8,000个干燥的、有关节的或无关节的骨骼标本。这些标本包括海鱼和淡水鱼，包括棘鱼骨骼和颌骨，以及蛇、蜥蜴和青蛙。它们是生物学、生物力学、进化论和考古学研究的资源。这些重要的收藏品已存放在不适合妥善存放的纸板箱中，应予以更换。此外，鱼类学中的骨骼标本最近受到曲霉真菌的侵扰。在这个项目中，被感染的骨骼收集将由真菌修复公司清理，并重新安置在塑料箱中，以及塑料袋和/或硅胶袋中，以减少湿度。将对不同储存处理中的标本进行监测，以确定个别处理的标本中是否有真菌重新生长。未感染的骨骼将被手动清理，重新装箱，并在必要时进行编目。收集区也将进行清洁，并降低湿度，以防止真菌复发。在自然历史收藏中，对这种规模的真菌感染的治疗是罕见的，而且对抗骨骼感染的特殊需求尤其不寻常。到目前为止，我们已经记录了我们应对措施中的所有步骤，包括真菌的检测和鉴定、处理和储存方法的试点研究以及收集处理和升级计划。我们将继续记录我们在治疗和储存方法方面的进展，以备作为个案研究。由于与接触曲霉真菌有关的健康危害，自从发现这种真菌以来，鱼类学和爬行学的旅游和教育活动已经暂停。这个项目将使我们能够重新向学生、研究人员和公众开放藏品。该项目将阻止两个重要骨骼收藏品中潜在的毁灭性真菌感染，并对这些收藏品进行重新安置和编目，以便向研究界以及自然历史博物馆的教育和展览项目提供。这些骨骼文物对基于收藏的研究具有价值，例如进化论、分类学、分类学、生物力学、年龄和生长的研究，以及考古学和历史等相关领域的研究。

A grant has been awarded to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County under the direction of Dr. Christine Thacker for partial support of a project to clean and rehouse the skeletal collections of Ichthyology and Herpetology, as well as combat an Aspergillus fungus infestation in the Ichthyology skeletal collections. Together these sections maintain an estimated 5,200,000 specimens (5 million fishes and 200,000 amphibians and reptiles), including 8,000 dried, articulated or disarticulated skeletal preparations. These specimens include both marine and freshwater fishes, including elasmobranch skeletons and jaws, as well as snakes, lizards and frogs. They serve as a resource for biological, biomechanical, evolutionary and archaeological studies. These important collections have been stored in cardboard boxes that are not suitable for proper storage, should be replaced. Additionally, the skeleton collections in Ichthyology have recently become infested with Apergillus fungus. For this project, the infested skeletal collections will be cleaned by a fungus remediation firm, and rehoused in plastic boxes, as well as plastic bags and/or silica gel packs to reduce humidity. The specimens in different storage treatments will be monitored to determine if any fungus regrowth occurs in individual treated specimens. Uninfested skeletons will be manually cleaned, reboxed, and catalogued if necessary. Collection areas will also be cleaned, and humidity lowered to prevent recurrence of the fungus. Treatment of a fungal infection of this magnitude in a natural history collection is rare, and the specific needs for combat of an infection on skeletons are particularly unusual. We have documented all steps in our response thus far, including detection and identification of the fungus, pilot studies of treatment and storage methods, and plans for collection treatments and upgrades. We will continue to document our progress in treatment and storage methods for preparation as a case study. Due to the health hazards associated with exposure to Aspergillus fungus, tours and educational activities in Ichthyology and Herpetology have been suspended since the fungus was identified. This project will enable us to reopen the collections to students, researchers, and the public. This project will arrest a potentially devastating fungal infection in two significant skeletal collections and provide for rehousing and cataloguing those collections so that they may be made available to the research community as well as for the educational and exhibit programs at the Natural History Museum. These skeletal holdings are of value for collection-based research such as studies of evolution, systematics, taxonomy, biomechanics, age and growth, as well as in related fields such as archaeology and history.