%0 Journal Article %J Comptes Rendus Palevol %D 2002 %T The fishes brought back to the 'Museum' by Alcide d'Orbigny: present statute and anecdotes. %A François J Meunier %A Bearez, Philippe %A Patrice Pruvost %A Desoutter-Meniger, M %X

Alcide d'Orbigny's contributions in the field of ichthyology are very significant. Today, in the MNHN collection one finds specimens from d'Orbigny: 92 species from South America and eight from the Canary Islands. The specimens of the New World are distributed about equally between marine and freshwater species. Almost all of these fishes were collected at two places: Montevideo/Buenos-Aires and Valparaiso. It should be noted that the freshwater species brought back by Alcide d'Orbigny are primarily from the Paraguay Basin. The differences in number between the 166 species announced by Alcide d'Orbigny and the 92 species currently indexed in the collection of the 'Museum national d'histoire naturelle' have several explanations. Some, regarded as different by d'Orbigny and Valenciennes, are treated today as synonyms. Others listed herein do not have specimens in collection. In addition, certain descriptions are based only on drawings made by d'Orbigny. Most of the reported specimens are currently preserved in alcohol. A dozen were dried and mounted and are still in an excellent state of conservation. (C) 2002 Academie des sciences / Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.

%B Comptes Rendus Palevol %V 1 %P 517-525 %8 11/2002 %G eng %N 7