University of Texas, Biodiversity Center, Ichthyology Collection (TNHCi)

Occurrence Specimen
Latest version published by University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Collections on Feb 23, 2026 University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Collections
Home:
https://integrativebio.utexas.edu/biodiversity-collections/collections/ichthyology-fish
Publication date:
February 23, 2026
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 83,312 records in English (6 MB) - Update frequency: weekly
Metadata as an EML file download in English (25 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (14 KB)

Description

The Texas Natural History Collections (TNHC) are administratively part of the Biodiversity Center, in the Department of Integrative Biology of the University of Texas (UT Austin). The Ichthyology Collection (TNHCi, formerly TNHC) includes over 70,000 lots that contain over 1,500,000 specimens. Most of those are “wet” collections, with specimens initially fixed in 10% formalin and permanently stored in 70% ethanol. The oldest specimens were collected in 1912 but a very strong peak in collection activity in Texas from 1950–1980 reflects the work of Dr. Clark Hubbs and his lab. More recently, collections by Dean Hendrickson’s lab and a diversity of collectors from UT Austin and other Texas academic institutions, as well as state and federal agencies (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), United States Geological Survey (USGS)) continue to contribute to growth, as does the Hendrickson Lab’s Fishes of Texas Project (www.fishesoftexas.org), primarily funded by TPWD. We have a small collection of larval fishes (in 10% formalin) from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and an osteological collection with 800 cleared and stained specimens (including all Texas species) and 500 dry skeletons. Many of the skeletal specimens originate from W. W. Dalquest (Midwestern University) and his students. Our >2,000 tissue samples in vials with 100% ethanol are stored in liquid nitrogen in the Biodiversity Center’s Genetic Resources Collection. Most are linked to whole preserved specimens. Our type specimens include 3 holotypes, 116 paratypes, and 1 allotype. Collections acquired from other institutions include that of the University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute (>3,000 lots, acquired in 1990), Midwestern University (2000, >1,400 lots), Texas Tech University (>1,300 lots, 2000), Texas A&M University Kingsville (>5,200 lots), University of Texas at Brownsville (>1,100 lots) and Lamar University (~1,200 lots), Northeastern Louisiana University Monroe (2,084 lots). Large accessions remaining to be cataloged include (but are not limited to) collections provided by Dr. Robert Edwards (state-wide with focus on Rio Grande and coast), Dr. Tim Bonner (State-wide, with focus on Brazos), Matthew Acre (~1,800 larval specimens from the Trinity River), TPWD (state-wide), Seiji Miyazono (Pecos), Bill Birkhead (Mexico), and TCEQ (state-wide).

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 83,312 records.

1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Occurrence (core)
83312
ResourceRelationship 
65849

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Hendrickson D A, Cohen A E, Casarez M J (2026). University of Texas, Biodiversity Center, Ichthyology Collection (TNHCi). Version 5.342. University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Collections. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.tacc.utexas.edu/resource?r=tnhc_i&v=5.342

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Collections. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 6080b6cc-1c24-41ff-ad7f-0ebe7b56f311.  University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Collections publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF-US.

Keywords

Occurrence; Specimen; Occurrence

Contacts

Dean A. Hendrickson
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Ichthyology Curator
University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Center
  • 10100 Burnet RD, PRC 176/R4000
78758-4445 Austin
TX
US
  • +01 512-471-9774
Adam E. Cohen
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Ichthyology Collections Manager
University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Center
  • 10100 Burnet RD, PRC 176/R4000
78758-4445 Austin
TX
US
  • +01 512-471-8845
Melissa J. Casarez
  • Metadata Provider
  • Ichthyology Collections Assistant Manager
University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Center
  • 10100 Burnet RD, PRC 176/R4000
78758-4445 Austin
TX
US
  • +01 512-475-8171
Melissa J. Casarez
  • Metadata Provider
  • Ichthyology Assistant Collections Manager
University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Center
  • 10100 Burnet RD, PRC 176/R4000
78758-4445 Austin
TX
US
  • +01 512-475-8171
Tomislav Urban
  • Point Of Contact
  • Senior Software Developer
Texas Advanced Computing Center
Austin
Texas
US
David Bloom
  • Programmer
  • VertNet Coordinator
VertNet
John Wieczorek
  • Programmer
  • Information Architect
VertNet

Geographic Coverage

Our Texas and Gulf of Mexico holdings account for 83% of the collection, but we also have significant holdings from other parts of the United States - AK, AL, AR (475 lots), AZ, CA, CO, FL (650 lots), IL, KA, KT, LA, MI, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OK, OR, Puerto Rico, SC, Virgin Is., WA, and WI. Twenty-six other countries are also represented, including Mexico (2,594 lots), Costa Rica (1,372 lots), Venezuela (1,969 lots) and Zambia (1,030 lots). We have georeferenced 87% of our records, with most of those not georeferenced being from outside of Texas, or we have not able to confidently apply coordinates.

Bounding Coordinates South West [-90, -180], North East [90, 180]

Taxonomic Coverage

The Ichthyology Collection contains 1,820 species from 806 genera in 251 families in 52 orders (following Nelson, 2006).

Class Actinopterygii, Elasmobranchii, Sarcopterygii, Cephalaspidomorphi

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 1913-10-12 / 2018-11-01

Project Data

No Description available

Title University of Texas, Biodiversity Center, Ichthyology Collection
Identifier TNHC
Funding Base funding is provided through the University of Texas, however between 2006 and 2018 the Fishes of Texas Project (www.fishesoftexas.org), which is based at our collection, has generated over $2,000,000, in part to verify specimen identifications, find/correct data errors, georeference, and digitize specimens and related documentation in the collection. This funding comes from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. National Science Foundation, and the Texas Army National Guard.
Study Area Description We have no restrictions related to collection locality and accept specimens collected globally, but are primarily interested in specimens from Texas and neighboring Mexican and U.S. states. Specimens must be legally collected. No restrictions on date of collection.
Design Description Specimens are collected by various and often undocumented means. Information about sampling gear, methods and habitats is recorded in our database when available.

The personnel involved in the project:

Adam E. Cohen
  • Point Of Contact
Dean A. Hendrickson
  • Curator
Melissa J. Casarez
  • Point Of Contact

Sampling Methods

Specimens are collected by various and often undocumented means. In many cases that information, when available, is recorded in our database.

Study Extent We have no restrictions related to collection locality and accept specimens collected globally, but are primarily interested in specimens from Texas and neighboring Mexican and U.S. states. Specimens must be legally collected. No restrictions on date of collection.
Quality Control Each record in this dataset refers to a specimen (or specimens) and these records are thus verifiable via specimen examination and examination of original museum documentation such as field notes and original labels. Historically the collection had a single data validation step, in which the database was checked against the verbatim specimen labels. Errors have also been corrected after being pointed out by researchers using the data and specimens. Since the inception of the Fishes of Texas Project (www.fishesoftexas.org) in 2006, we have had a more systematic focus on detection of species determination and data entry errors that has led to corrections of many records.

Method step description:

  1. Incoming specimens are accessioned, transferred to 70% ethanol (if needed), sorted/identified to lowest possible taxonomic level (usually species), cataloged into a Specify database which assigns each lot a unique catalog number, database-generated labels are verified against original handwritten labels, and inserted into specimen jars.

Collection Data

Collection Name Texas Natural History Collections, Ichthyology Collection
Collection Identifier https://integrativebio.utexas.edu/biodiversity-collections/collections/ichthyology-fish
Parent Collection Identifier University of Texas
Specimen preservation methods Alcohol

Additional Metadata

http://vertnet.org/resources/norms.html

Purpose
Alternative Identifiers 6080b6cc-1c24-41ff-ad7f-0ebe7b56f311
https://ipt.tacc.utexas.edu/resource?r=tnhc_i