Digitizing Biological Collections – Imaging Fluid-Preserved Specimens

Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology collection manager Rob Robins explains the five-step process for imaging or digitizing fluid-preserved specimens. These fluid-preserved, or wet-collection, specimens are typically fishes, reptiles and amphibians, and aquatic invertebrates, and to a lesser degree, birds and mammals. The high-resolution images of specimens stored in alcohol increase access for researchers and the general public to the vast collections in natural history museums.