The University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology recently received a major addition to its fish division database—more than 5,300 new lots, or groups of specimens, containing over 75,000 historical specimens collected from Michigan lakes. The fishes were collected through the Institute for Fisheries Research which is a cooperative between the University of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
“This is a significant addition for a number of reasons, representing the culmination of years of dedicated work and exciting research,” said Dr. Hernán López-Fernández, Associate Chair for Collections, the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Museums, and Curator of Fishes.
The upload was led by Andrew Runyon, lab manager in Dr. Karen Alofs’ research group. Alofs, Assistant Professor, SEAS, maintains a lab focused on how ecological principles can inform conservation strategies in the face of environmental stressors such as climate change, invasive species, and habitat degradation. This project is one of many in the lab that leverages long-term and historical data to understand changes in fish populations and community structure over time.
The newly added specimens reflect decades of fish sampling efforts, some dating back nearly a century. Many were originally collected through early 20th-century biodiversity surveys initiated by the DNR, which aimed to monitor fish populations across the state’s lakes and rivers.
“These historic records are increasingly valuable as researchers study the impacts of environmental factors,” said López-Fernández. “Museum collections like this one offer a critical resource for comparing past and present ecosystems, helping scientists understand long-term trends and guide conservation planning.”
The Division of Fishes at the Museum of Zoology serves as both a research resource and a teaching center, dedicated to the study of fish evolution, phylogeny, distribution, ecology, and behavior. Its collection includes 3.5 million cataloged specimens from across the United States, Mexico, Asia, Japan, the Neotropics, and Africa—making it one of the most comprehensive ichthyological resources in the world.
