About the Ichthyology & Herpetology Department | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

About Ichthyology and Herpetology

Ichthyology

The Natural History Museum's fish collection is one of ten internationally recognized ichthyological collections in the United States. The collection contains an estimated five million specimens, of which roughly three million are catalogued (171,000 catalogued lots, including 224 holotypes, and 8,515 paratypes). Our collection emphasis is the Pacific Rim, with particular strengths in fishes from the Eastern Pacific, Galapagos, Hawaiian, and Philippine islands, the Antarctic, and the freshwaters of North, Central, and South America.  

Herpetology

The Museum's collection of amphibians and reptiles contains approximately 176,000 catalogued specimens from around the globe. Its special strengths include the southwestern U.S., Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Costa Rica, Galapagos Islands, eastern and southern Africa, and Australia. It contains material formerly in the collections of the University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, and California State University, Long Beach. In addition to specimens preserved in ethyl alcohol, there are photographic slides, and a large collection of herpetological reprints.

Catalina Island Oarfish

On August 16, 2006 a large silvery fish swam into Big Fisherman Cove on Catalina Island. It was identified as an oarfish by researchers from the Wrigley Marine Science Center located in the Cove, who were able to dive with and photograph the fish as it swam. They collected it, froze it, and brought the fish by boat to the mainland where it was transported to the Natural History Museum. The oarfish is now on display on Level 1.