Natural history museum specimen are invaluable for a variety of conservation and ecological applications. Fishes are commonly preserved in formalin, but formalin preservation has been shown to result in a reduction of fish length and an increase in weight that may vary among species. These changes may have drastic effects on any conservation or ecological conclusions drawn from specimen preserved for various durations as well as when compared to fresh, unpreserved specimen. The purpose of this study was to test whether formalin fixation and preservation affects endangered Delta smelt lengths and weights with implications on the use data collected on preserved and fresh specimen. Fresh Delta smelt were lengthed and weighted, then fixed and preserved in 10% buffered formalin. Repeated measures of specimen length and weigh were recorded weekly for 4 weeks, fortnightly from preservation week 4 through preservation week 24, and then approximately annually through 6 total years of preservation.