Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. A, 35(1), pp. 9–54, March 22, 2009 Historical Fish Specimens Collected from the Tohoku District by the Saito Ho-on Kai Museum of Natural History Keiichi Matsuura1, Gento Shinohara2 and Masanori Nakae1 1 Collection Center, National Museum of Nature and Science, 3–23–1 Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169–0073 Japan E-mail:
[email protected];
[email protected] 2 Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, 3–23–1 Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169–0073 Japan E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract The fish collection of the Saito Ho-on Kai Museum of Natural History was transferred to the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo in February 2006. Ninety percent of the fish collection contains specimens collected from the Tohoku District during the period from 1930 to 1933 when natural environments of Japan were in good condition for various groups of fishes. The fish specimens from the Tohoku District were classified into 361 species/subspecies of 273 genera belonging to 131 families of 31 orders. A list of the species is shown with remarks on distribution. Key words: Fish specimens, Saito Ho-on Kai Museum, Tohoku District, inventory. stead of natural sicence. The museum has tried to Introduction keep its activity at the level before the war, but it The Saito Ho-on Kai Museum was established failed to do so because of financial difficulties. In in November 1933 in Sendai City, Miyagi Pre- 2005, the Saito Ho-on Kai Museum of Natural fecture, Japan.