Southern Vietnam harbours one of the most diverse ichthyological faunas. Despite limited exploration, many new species of fishes have recently been described from the area. Unfortunately, most type specimens are currently deposited outside the country while national collections are stored separately in universities and research institutions and curated inefficiently making it difficult for researchers to access. This causes a number of difficulties for studies in biodiversity assessment, environmental impact assessment, taxonomic revision and conservation planning.

The present project aims to improve the capacity of managing ichthyological collections at the Southern Institute of Ecology (under Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) and thus to enhance its fish studies.