A great deal goes into not only finding a new fish species, but in confirming that it is, in fact, unknown to science and then placing it on the “tree of life”. The scientific names and classifications of fishes – and all living things – are based on specimens that are collected in the field and preserved in natural history collections like the Academy of Natural Sciences here in Philadelphia. Published literature creates a verifiable chain of custody that ties taxonomic names to their authors, dates, usage and museum specimens.
