UA Museum to Display Preserved Sharks, Stingrays, More Prior to Auburn Game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – There’s definitely something fishy happening on The University of Alabama campus Saturday, Nov. 20 prior to the Alabama-Auburn football game.

More than two dozen species of preserved fish, including sharks, eels and seahorses will be on display Saturday from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. in a hands-on format inside UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural History. Admission is $1. Dr. Bernie Kuhajda, collections manager of UA’s ichthyological collection, will display the fish and field questions.

The 25 displayed species represent a small portion of the approximate 1 million fish specimens that make up the University’s collection. The specimens, cataloged within a computer program with data available via the Internet, serve to inventory both the state’s fish diversity and also the general health of its ecosystems. Alabama is home to more freshwater fish species (more than 300) than any other state in the nation, Kuhajda said.

The UA collection is regularly used to help answer ecological and environmental questions and questions pertaining to the formation and upkeep of the existing biodiversity. The collection also includes the original specimens used in writing the scientific descriptions of many new species from North America.

The fish were originally preserved in formaldehyde, then rinsed in water and permanently stored in 70 percent ethanol. The collection also includes frozen specimens and others preserved directly in 95 percent ethanol for DNA research.

UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural History is located in Smith Hall on 6th Avenue near The University of Alabama Quad. To see a complete list of the Museum’s upcoming activities and events visit the website at www.museums.ua.edu.