CSBR: Ownership Transfer: Incorporation of the orphaned UCLA Fish Collection into the Marine Vertebrate Collection, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

Natural history collections are important resources that document biodiversity and provide baseline information necessary for assessing changes in the abundance and distribution of species over time. These collections are irreplaceable, as it is usually difficult to replicate past collecting events, and thus represent legacy resources that transcend generations. This project will incorporate a taxonomically and geographically diverse collection of fishes, previously housed at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), into the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection (MVC) at the University of California San Diego. Specimens will be curated to preserve their integrity for future generations of scientists and educators. Additionally, they will be databased to increase their accessibility to researchers. This award also supports the expansion of the MVC's outreach activities to disadvantaged youth in San Diego. These activities will introduce future leaders to potential career opportunities as they explore the diversity and ecological importance of fishes through a collaborative project with the Ocean Discovery Institute. The UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology recently transferred its fish collection to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection (MVC). The MVC is the logical repository for this orphaned collection because it retains these resources within the University of California, the institution that funded the infrastructure to build both collections, and it significantly improves the MVC's holdings of eastern Pacific fishes. The UCLA collection includes a variety of marine fishes dating to the 1940s and 1950s representing extensive collections of coastal fishes from California, the tropical eastern Pacific and its oceanic islands. This material adds significant components to the MVC including nearly 100 species new to the MVC and specimens of nearly 500 poorly represented species. This award facilitates the support of a dedicated staff member to enter UCLA specimen data into the MVC cataloging system and database, supervise a UCSD undergraduate student working with the UCLA collection, and participate in expanded outreach activities with the Ocean Discovery Institute. The Ocean Discovery Institute has an unparalleled record of public education in the San Diego area, as well as the resources to assess and continue the impact of these efforts well beyond the duration of this award.