The launch of the Actiniaria portal is a fact! And its launch is partially linked to the last phase of integrating all information from the Hexacorallians of the World database into WoRMS. In the past, the WoRMS Data Management Team – in collaboration with the late Daphne Fautin and a number of WoRMS editors - initiated a final synchronisation action related of the Hexacorallians of the World Database. During this synchronisation, not all information from this database was integrated into WoRMS, as the focus was largely put on taxonomy of Actiniaria and Corallimorpharia. In 2019, a follow-up question came from the new Actiniaria editor – Estefanía Rodríguez – to turn this into a rescue action, and to integrate all information from the Hexacorallians of the World into WoRMS, which encompassed additional information such as distributions and references. This would then be the final step in safeguarding the legacy of Daphne Fautin, allowing her data to be freely accessible through a solid platform with dedicated maintenance and the promise to stay online indefinitely.

This rescue action has now been finalized, adding a whole treasure of extra information to the different groups within the Hexacorals. This included the addition of 1.842 names, 2.177 original descriptions, 25.312 distributions, 48.649 specimen records and many more additional references and vernaculars. And as the involved editors – Meg Daly & Estefania Rodriguez – also aimed for more visibility of the Actiniaria, a dedicated portal for this group has now been launched, with a very similar look-and-feel as the already existing portal of the World list of Scleractinia.

The underlying rescue action and following launch of Actiniaria of the World portal is also a contribution to the WoRMS endorsed project within the UN Ocean Decade, where WoRMS continues to support not only scientists, but everyone who makes use of species names, including policy, industry and the public at large. Providing a separate portal for this species group provides it with a wider visibility towards a larger audience.

The Data Management Team (DMT) is supported by LifeWatch Belgium, part of the E-Science European LifeWatch Infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research. LifeWatch is a distributed virtual laboratory, used for different aspects of biodiversity research. The Species Information Backbone of LifeWatch aims at bringing together taxonomic and species-related data and at filling the gaps in our knowledge. Part of the data rescue work of the Hexacorallians of the World Database of Daphne Fautin was funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF 1934274 to E. Rodríguez), for which the WoRMS DMT was very grateful.

Image credit: Estefanía Rodríguez