Fish Collection

Tucked away in a former U.S. Navy ammunitions depot in Belle Chasse reside 7 million fish specimens. A part of Tulane University, the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection is the largest post larval fish collection in the world. The majority of material in the collection is from freshwater river basins in the Gulf-South region, including Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia.
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The collection is divided among two buildings, one housing jar lots of hagfishes through catfishes and the second housing tank specimens and jar lots of minnows through tetraodontiform fishes. Other facilities include a library featuring ichthyological literature and reprints, alcohol redistillation equipment, and a specimen imaging room for 2-D and 3-D imaging of specimens. The facility is open for research purposes and tours. For more information, visit www.tubri.org