LFL Collection

LFL serves as a depository for preserved fish eggs, larvae, and early juveniles collected from various locations throughout North America. As of August 2015, the LFL Collection consisted of over 133,000 cataloged lots of fish, over 4.2 million specimens, most of which are early life stages and some of which were collected over 50 years ago. Holdings represent over 200 North American freshwater and anadromous species from across the continent, including most of the larval and small fish collected and preserved from the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) since 1976. The latter account for over 95% of holdings and include several threatened and endangered species. The collection is cataloged via the collection management program SPECIFY, but not yet accessible online.

LFL Literature File and C.A. Carlson Library

LFL maintains an extensive file of literature on freshwater and anadromous fish eggs, larvae, and adults with emphasis on morphological development. Much of the literature is coded for content and computer indexed for rapid searches and preparation of specific bibliographies. The C. A. Carlson Library was contributed to LFL by its former administrator upon his retirement. It consists of a collection of fishery and ecological journals, theses, dissertations, and related literature that complement the Literature File and personal holdings of individual staff members.

LFL Pictorial Reference File

LFL also maintains a file of fish egg and larva illustrations and descriptive data derived from the literature. The file is organized by family and species and used primarily as an aid for specimen identification; it is effectively an atlas of fish early-life stages for all of North America. Associated with the Pictorial File is a file of meristic data for North American freshwater and anadromous fishes.