The database will be of primary interest to scientists working in the field. However, non-scientists are more than welcome to check it out. The database lists types by the scientific name under which they were originally described. Many of the scientific names listed are no longer in use. Some species have well recognised common names, but for many fishes there is no agreed common name and indeed there may be many common names for the same fish species.
Fish types are specimens upon which the original scientific description of a fish species was based.
One example you can find in this database is the specimen registered under number AMS I.13199 . This fish is the holotype of a sole, Synaptura cancellata which was described in 1916 by A. R. McCulloch. A holotype is the primary specimen upon which the species description was based. More information about types . The Australian Museum fish research collection is the largest in Australia with more than 500,000 adult and juvenile specimens and 400,000 larvae.