The UCM fish collection is primarily preserved in fluid, with some osteological and dried specimens. It contains over 24,000 specimens in roughly 2.365 lots. The majority were collected in Colorado, although there is a worldwide coverage of both marine and freshwater species. Many specimens were collected in the early 1900s by Max M. Ellis, including several hundred from Guyana in the headwaters of the Amazon river. The collection also includes about 2000 Salmonid specimens donated by Robert J. Behnke, Colorado State University Professor Emeritus and the author of Trout and Salmon of North America. Nearly 10% of our holdings are representatives of endangered and threatened species.