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Towards a World Register of Marine Species
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The aim of a World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms, including information on synonymy. While highest priority goes to valid names, other names in use are included so that this register can serve as a guide to interpret taxonomic literature. The content of WoRMS is controlled by taxonomic experts, not by database managers. WoRMS has an editorial management system where each taxonomic group is represented by an expert who has the authority over the content, and is responsible for controlling the quality of the information. Each of these main taxonomic editors can invite several specialists of smaller groups within their area of responsibility to join them. This register of marine species grew out of the European Register of Marine Species (ERMS), and its combination with several other species registers maintained at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). Rather than building separate registers for all projects, and to make sure taxonomy used in these different projects is consistent, VLIZ developed a consolidated database called ‘Aphia’. A list of marine species registers included in Aphia is available below. MarineSpecies.org is the web interface for this database. The WoRMS is an idea that is being developed, and will combine information from Aphia with other authoritative marine species lists which are maintained by others (e.g. AlgaeBase, FishBase, Hexacorallia, NeMys). Resources to build MarineSpecies.org and Aphia were provided mainly by the EU Network of Excellence ‘Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning’ (MarBEF), and also by the EU funded Species 2000 Europe and ERMS projects. Intellectual property rights of the European part of the register is managed through the Society for the Management of Electronic Biodiversity Data (SMEBD). Similar solutions are now being investigated for the other parts of the register. Aphia contains valid species names, synonyms and vernacular names, and extra information such as literature and biogeographic data. Besides species names, Aphia also contains the higher classification in which each scientific name is linked to its parent taxon. The classification used is a ‘compromise’ between established systems and recent changes. Its aim is to aid data management, rather than suggest any taxonomic or phylogenetic opinion on species relationships. Keeping WoRMS up-to-date is a continuous process. New information is entered daily by the taxonomic editors and by the members of our data management team. Often data also come in from contributions of large datasets, such as global or regional species lists. No database of this size is without errors and omissions. We can’t promise to make no errors, but we do promise to follow up and give feedback on any communications pointing out errors. Feedback is very welcome! Who is using WoRMS?An overview on who is using WoRMS and how WoRMS relates to other international species initiatives is available on our users webpage. Board of EditorsThe list of taxonomic experts can be found on editors. Steering CommitteeMark J. Costello (chair)University of Auckland, New Zealand Ward Appeltans (data manager) Flanders Marine Institute, Belgium Philippe Bouchet Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, France Geoff Boxshall The Natural History Museum, UK Kristian Fauchald Smithsonian Institution, USA Dennis Gordon Aquatic Biodiversity & Biosecurity National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, New Zealand Bert Hoeksema National Museum of Natural History, The Netherlands Gary C.B. Poore Museum Victoria, Australia Rob van Soest Zoologisch Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands Sabine Stöhr Swedish Museum of Natural History; Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Sweden Chad Walter Smithsonian Institution, USA |
WoRMS integrates: Global species lists World list of Porifera World list of Proseriata and Kalyptorhynchia - Rhabditophora World list of Cumacea World list of Brachiopoda World list of Phoronida World list of Pycnogonida World list of Ophiuroidea World list of Isopoda World list of Copepoda World list of Asteroidea World list of Remipedia World list of Cetacea World list of Mangroves World list of Hydrozoa World list of Placozoa World list of Euphausiacea World list of Nemertina World list of Tanaidacea World list of Polychaeta World list of Pentastomida World list of Cephalocarida World list of Hirudinea World List of Priapulida World List of Nematomorpha World list of marine & brackish water Branchiopoda World List of Ciliophora World List of Acanthocephala World List of Bochusacea Under construction Acarina, Amphipoda, Ascidiacea, Aspidogastrea, Aves, Chaetognatha, Cirripedia, Crinoidea, Ctenophora, Decapoda, Digenea, Echinoidea, Echiura, Entoprocta, Gastrotricha, Holothuroidea, Insecta, Lophogastrida, Merostomata, Mollusca, Monogenea, Myriapoda, Nematoda (parasitic), Myxozoa, Ostracoda, Radiolaria, Sipuncula, Sirenia, Tantulocarida, Thermosbaenacea, Trematoda Regional species lists European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) Register of Antarctic Marine Species (RAMS) North Atlantic Register for Marine Species (NARMS) Taxonomic Information System for the Belgian Coastal Area (TISBE) Marine Species Database for Eastern Africa (MASDEA) Under construction Canadian Register of Marine Species Arctic and Bipolar Register of Marine Species New Zealand Register of Marine Species Thematic species lists IOC-UNESCO Taxonomic Reference List of Harmful Micro Algae (HAB) Unesco Register of Marine Organisms (URMO) North Sea Benthos Project (NSBP) North Sea Benthos Survey (NSBS) Macrobenthos of the Belgian Continental Shelf (MACROBEL) Under construction Marine Invasive Species GENT Herbarium, phycology specimen collection ULB Herbarium, Mangrove specimen collection External global species lists World list of Marine Pisces (from FishBase) World list of Algae (from AlgaeBase) World list of Mysids – NeMys World list of free-living Nematodes – NeMys World list of Marine Rotifers (from FADA) World list of marine reptiles (From Reptile Database) Under construction World list of Turbellaria (from Turbellarian Taxonomic Database) |
IT Developments
Bart VanhoorneFlanders Marine Institute, Belgium
WoRMS has a unique referencing system, so each record has a unique ID (called AphiaID). Existing records may be updated, but never overwritten with a complete new record. To retrieve these IDs you can match your species names (also higher ranks) with the Aphia database via the WoRMS Taxon match tool. WoRMS also has a webservice to dynamically link your systems to our database. WoRMS is backed-up every month and you may request a copy in compliance with the terms and conditions as outlined the request form (see below). If you are interested in the structure of the database, we have created a view at WoRMS structure (best viewed on Internet Explorer).
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.
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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:
Appeltans W, Bouchet P, Boxshall GA, Fauchald K, Gordon DP, Hoeksema BW, Poore GCB, van Soest RWM, Stöhr S, Walter TC, Costello MJ. (eds) (2010). The World Register of Marine Species. Available online at http://www.marinespecies.org. Accessed on [date].
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.