Fish Collection of the Kaunas Tadas Ivanauskas Museum of Zoology

Specimens are preserved using different preparation methods, including fluid-preserved specimens, dried specimens, mounted specimens, skeletons, skulls and other preparations. Taxonomic names were reviewed and validated using the GBIF taxonomic backbone and GBIF Species Matching tools. Original taxonomic identifications are retained where appropriate, while standardized Darwin Core fields are provided to facilitate data discovery and reuse.

The dataset represents part of the zoological collections of the Kaunas Tadas Ivanauskas Museum of Zoology and is published to improve accessibility of historical and contemporary biodiversity information for scientific research, biodiversity assessment, conservation and other non-commercial and educational uses. Geographic coverage The dataset includes specimens collected in Lithuania and numerous other countries and regions, as well as material originating from marine environments including the Atlantic Ocean and other seas and oceans.

Geographic coordinates are provided where sufficient locality information was available. Taxonomic coverage The dataset covers fishes preserved in the museum's ichthyological collection. Records include specimens identified primarily to species level, with some material identified to subspecies, genus or family level.

Temporal coverage The collection contains both historical and contemporary specimens accumulated over many decades. For historical records where only the year of collection is known, the year is provided without assigning an artificial month or day. Data quality Prior to publication, the dataset was standardized according to Darwin Core terminology.

Scientific names and higher taxonomy were checked against the GBIF taxonomic backbone. Collection dates were standardized according to ISO 8601 where possible, geographic coordinates were validated, preparation types were standardized in English, and unique occurrence identifiers were assigned to individual records.Original information from museum collection records was retained whenever possible. Missing or uncertain information was not inferred where reliable supporting information was unavailable.