WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species

Search WoRMS

Statistics

135,538 valid species; of which 75,252 checked (56%)
197,006 species names including synonyms
246,040 taxa (species to phyla)
8,638 images
In the light of the 300th birthday of Linnaeus, we reached our target of 100,000 valid species names by the end of 2007. The final goal is to capture all of the estimated 230,000 marine species by 2010, in synchrony with the completion of the Census of Marine Life programme, still 94,462 to go.

About WoRMS

With WoRMS we aim to provide an authoritative list of names of all marine species globally, ever published.

WoRMS is a contribution to Species2000 and the Catalogue of Life, and will serve as the taxonomic backbone of OBIS.
WoRMS has been accepted as one of the four GBIF campaigns.
Read more...

News

Harmful Micro Algae hands-on workshop, 17-18 November 2008
Added on: 2008-11-18 11:09:00 by Ward Appeltans

WoRMS now hosts the IOC Reference List on Toxic Algae, which provides information on more than 70 marine toxic algae. ... [Read more]

1st Marine Taxonomy Workshop report
Added on: 2008-10-07 15:25:00 by Ward Appeltans

Over 55 scientists from 17 countries met at the Flanders Marine Institute and planned the completion of a World Register of Marine Species by 2010, at a MarBEF workshop. ... [Read more]

Discovery of a new fish species on BBC
Added on: 2008-08-18 12:15:00 by Ward Appeltans

In a new BBC series, Kate Humble sets sail on a 2,000-mile adventure across the Pacific with a team of top natural history filmmakers and deep-water marine biologists. ... [Read more]

Official logo for WoRMS
Added on: 2008-08-04 12:02:00 by Ward Appeltans

Out of 10 submissions, this logo won the competition during a plenary vote at the Marine Taxonomy Workshop in Ostend. We'd like to thank everyone for their contributions and special thanks and congratulations go to Arnaud Brecht from Paris. [Read more]

WoRMS now public reality after world-wide media coverage
Added on: 2008-07-24 16:49:00 by Ward Appeltans

The news was reported in at least 21 stories in 9 languages distributed by 14 newswires, which also appeared on more than 275 media websites across 27 countries. ... [Read more]

[Add] [More news... ]

Download database

We see the web interface as the main means of access to information in the Aphia database. However, in some cases this web interface might be too limited, especially for those building off-line applications. If you want to get an electronic copy of the Aphia database, please fill in and send us the request form.

Supporters

Citation

We encourage to cite the individual global or regional species lists that are often the source of the data, but you can also refer to us as follows:

SMEBD (2008). World Register of Marine Species. Accessed at http://www.marinespecies.org on [yyyy-mm-dd].

Disclaimer

The editorial board maintains this register, but is aware that it is not complete and undoubtedly contains errors. The board cannot be made responsible for any errors or misuse of data contained in this register. Comments from our users are more than welcome, so if you come across any error or incomplete information or you are willing to contribute to this initiative please contact us at info@marinespecies.org.