Fish collection NTNU University Museum

The collection of fish at the NTNU University Museum dates back to the 1860's. The collection contains both freshwater and marine fish. Almost all of the objects are preserved on ethanol. The marine part of the collection is small and dates back to when there were research on marine fish at the museum, corresponding with when exploration and mapping of marine environments in central Norway started, initially the Trondheimsfjord, but later also coastal areas outside the fjord. The freshwater part of the collection is larger and dates mainly from late 1960's and up to today. This part of the collection contains mainly of anadromous salmonid species (Salmo salar and Salmo trutta, 65 % of the total fish collection). This is mainly due to the museum being involved in numerous projects investigating the effects of Norwegian freshwater systems being used for hydropower production. Todays collection covers most of the species found in the coastal areas and freshwater systems of central Norway. It contains a total of 248 species. The geographic coverage of the objects in this collection is mainly Norwegian mainland, Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Within Norway mainland the majority of objects collected origins from central Norway.