Buck Island Reef National Monument supports a diverse marine ecosystem. One of the most interesting natural collections from the island consists of 254 species of fish collected in 2001 Cryptic Fishes Inventory conducted by USGS (Phase I) and NOVA SE University (Phase II) in 2005. Fishes are currently curated at Florida Museum of Natural History, Division of Ichthyology under a 25-year loan agreement. The collection, consisting of over 3,500 lots containing over 18,000 specimens of tropical coral reef fishes, focuses on cryptic species.