Sat, 25 May 2013 18:56:28 +0000 en Sat, 25 May 2013 07:58:47 +0000 Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:37:26 +0000 The app is free to download and works on both iPhone and iPad. It allows offline access to the World Register of Deep-Sea Species and currently stores taxonomic information for over 20,000 deep-sea species, over 350 high-resolution photographs of deep-sea specimens and much more.... ]]> Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:51:06 +0000 On February 21st, we held our WoRMS editor workshop in Vienna. Although we did not have a massive turnout (11 people in total), we did have a very good workshop, with valuable feedback and discussions.
... ]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 01:14:15 +0000 One of the world’s great marine biologists has passed away.... ]]> Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:07:51 +0000 This Collection has been created by the editors of the World Register of Marine Species, an open-access online database which holds information on all marine species, and some of their freshwater and terrestrial relatives. The WoRMS database contains species names, synonyms, sources and a range of other information, as described in the collection overview paper (Costello et al. 2012).... ]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 11:55:55 +0000 We are pleased to announce the launch of the African Register of Marine Species (AfReMaS). It aims to compile and manage an authoritative list of species occurring along African marine coasts. It tries to provide the most up-to-date taxonomy edited by taxonomic experts. ]]> Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:15:38 +0000 We are pleased to announce the launch of the World Register of Deep-Sea Species, a new web portal in close collaboration with the WoRMS team at VLIZ and with the help of the taxonomic editors. The World Register of Deep-Sea species aims to bring together the most up-to-date taxonomy with a suite of identification tools (online keys, monographs and papers) recommended by taxonomic experts.... ]]> Fri, 23 Nov 2012 16:32:43 +0000 The meeting will be held back to back with an EMODNet/WoRMS species attributes workshop. ]]> Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:04:10 +0000 At least one-third of the species that inhabit the world’s oceans may remain completely unknown to science. That’s despite the fact that more species have been described in the last decade than in any previous one, according to a report published online on November 15 in the Cell Press publication Current Biology that details the first comprehensive register of marine species of the world—a massive collaborative undertaking by hundreds of experts around the globe.... ]]> Sat, 27 Oct 2012 07:32:23 +0000 Fri, 24 Aug 2012 07:34:51 +0000 In the past, several people have asked the database management team about the possibility to create an alert system for the WoRMS editors, so they can keep better track of all the changes and additions that are made to the taxonomic group they are responsible for.... ]]> Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:12:10 +0000 Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:48:34 +0000 The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) has appointed Leen Vandepitte as the new data manager for WoRMS.
Leen is a biologist with a lot of experience in biological data management. In the VLIZ data centre, she is also responsable for the management of EurOBIS. Wim Decock (biologist) and Bart Vanhoorne (IT specialist) will of course continue to serve in the data management team for WoRMS. ]]> Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:24:15 +0000 The peracarid crustacean orders Mysida, Lophogastrida and Stygiomysida were formerly grouped under the name "Mysidacea". Although the treatment in three separate orders is now accepted, we have chosen to present mysids, lophogastrids and stygiomysids in the same web interface. The higher classification (orders, families, subfamilies) follows Meland & Willassen (2007), and the fossil order of Pygocephalomorpha is also included in the database.
... ]]> Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:09:44 +0000 Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:14:13 +0000 We are pleased to launch a new regional species database for the British Isles and Adjacent Seas (MSBIAS), that grew out of the World Register of Marine Species database. ]]> Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:34:18 +0000 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:36:32 +0000 Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:24:26 +0000 The UNESCO-IOC Register of Marine Organisms (URMO) was the first attempt to compile an electronic list all marine species during the 1990’s. It was invented and developed by Jacob van der Land at the National Museum of Natural History, Leiden (and several colleagues). URMO and other databases (such as the European Register of Marine Species) were the starting points for the current World Register of Marine Species. The URMO list is no longer actively maintained and is completely adopted by the World Register of Marine Species.... ]]> Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:26:18 +0000 VLIZ was awarded this honour and saw its efforts in managing marine data since 2000 rewarded with an international certification within the World Data System of the International Council for Science (ICSU). VLIZ is now an official member of a global network of 28 world data centres, of which only 4 deal with marine data management.... ]]> Tue, 11 Oct 2011 07:41:47 +0000 WoRMS was quoted as a source of information many times during the World Conference of Marine Biodiversity (25-30 September 2011, Aberdeen, UK), the largest ever conference of marine biologists with almost 1000 present.... ]]> Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:11:53 +0000 The new Global Species Database (GSD) contains over 11,000 accepted species and is a merge of the World Register of Polychaeta by Kristian Fauchald (2007) and numerous additions/edits from Geoff Read (>2009), and several other editors.... ]]> Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:13:09 +0000 The World Modern Foraminifera Database currently contains roughly 10,000 names, including 6,700 accepted species. It also contains 1,100 references and around 2,700 images of species.
The (3) editors are: Bruce W. Hayward; Tomas Cedhagen; Mike Kaminski.... ]]> Tue, 10 May 2011 07:36:27 +0000 The portal of PESI (Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) has been launched: www.eu-nomen.eu/portal and is available in 21 European languages. With time, it will be possible to find and search through the information of all species appearing in Europe. Not only the species living in seas and oceans, but also of all terrestrial and aquatic species. Currently, there are already nearly half a million scientific and non-scientific names in 88 languages for over 210 000 species and over 6 million distribution records.... ]]> Wed, 06 Apr 2011 07:01:22 +0000 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:01:53 +0000 The correct spelling of a species name is not always trivial (which one is correct: Cirrhitichthys, Cirrhitychthys or Cirritichthys?) and it is very difficult for non-taxonomists to keep up with the valid status of species names. Check our powerful online name matching tool to standardize your names with WoRMS.... ]]> Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:56:10 +0000 Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:12:50 +0000 The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) and associated databases are an index to the book of life, but our further goal is for every species to have its face on the web.... ]]> Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:21:36 +0000 CaRMS is one of the regional species registers in WoRMS, containing authoritative species distribution records for marine areas of interest to Canadian researchers and includes taxa found in three oceans: the Atlantic, the Arctic and the Pacific.... ]]> Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:44:48 +0000 The "World Ascidiacea Database" has just gone online as a part of the World Register of Marine Species initiative. ]]> Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:20:18 +0000 We recently held our 1st meeting of the editorial board of the IOC taxonomic reference list of harmful micro algae (11-13 October 2010 in Hillerød, Denmark). The reference list is an integral part of the World Register of Marine Species database and is actively maintained by nine taxonomic experts. This taxonomic reference list is an initiative of the UNESCO IOC programme on harmful algal blooms.... ]]> Fri, 01 Oct 2010 09:10:25 +0000 The Belgian Register of Marine Species is now available online. It contains all currently accepted scientific names for all sea creatures appearing in the Belgian part of the North Sea, mainly based on the knowledge of field experts and – for some taxonomic groups – complemented with available literature.... ]]> Fri, 24 Sep 2010 16:00:39 +0000 WoRMS has now implemented persistent & resolvable LSIDs for taxa. For more information, click on 'webservices'. ]]> Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:31:17 +0000 The journal Plant Ecology and Evolution has recently published a paper on the ‘Mangrove Reference Database and Herbarium’, which is an integral part of the World Register of Marine Species, hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute.... ]]> Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:36:16 +0000 The World Echinoidea Database has just gone online. It contains all currently accepted scientific names for sea urchins and is progressively extended to include all published combinations of echinoid names, allowing both specialists and non-specialists to find the currently accepted name for extant sea urchins. ]]> Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:55:01 +0000 Centipedes and millipedes seem unlikely animals to find on seashores but in fact there are several species of millipede and more than forty centipedes (notably the geophilomorphs or “wire centipedes”) that are known from around high water or below on beaches around the world and there are certainly other species to be recorded from such sites.... ]]> Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:51:21 +0000 Match taxa in the menu. You can upload a list of species names and the system will return your file matched with the species names in WoRMS. It notifies when the name is an unaccepted synonym, if the spelling is not exact (phonetic or near matches), the authority and publication date, the hierarchical classification, quality status (expert validated or not), the persistent WoRMS LSID and citation for each name. When there are multiple matches the system provides a pick-list.... ]]> Wed, 26 May 2010 12:50:55 +0000 Their 2010 annual report "State of Observed Species (SOS)" makes on overview of nearly two million species of which one million are insects. In 2008, 18,225 living species and 2,140 animal fossil species were described as new to science. WoRMS is now an official data partner. ]]> Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:47:07 +0000 The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is pleased to announce funding from the Census of Marine Life (CoML) Synthesis group at Memorial University to help complete draft species lists for gaps in taxon coverage in WoRMS.... ]]> Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:39:13 +0000 WoRMS is contributing to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the development of international biodiversity informatics science through participating in the Global Names Index (GNI) initiative (www.globalnames.org).... ]]> Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:53:09 +0000 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:47:22 +0000 Hydrozoa are among the most diverse group of cnidarians. The World Hydrozoa database includes all extant hydrozoan species and is intended to act as a tool for anyone needing correct taxonomic information, both specialists and non-specialists alike. Visit: www.marinespecies.org/hydrozoa.... ]]> Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:23:52 +0000 This is the smallest of all animal databases yet; it contains a single valid species, Trichoplax adhaerens. This actual situation is soon to change radically. The World Placozoa Database is online at www.marinespecies.org/placozoa.... ]]> Sun, 31 May 2009 22:00:00 +0000 Marking the World Register's official inauguration, some 55 researchers from 17 countries met in Belgium to plan its completion by 2010. Leading World Register experts independently estimate that about 230,000 marine species are known to science. They also believe there are three times as many unknown (unnamed) marine species as known, for a grand total on Earth that could surpass 1 million.... ]]> Thu, 07 May 2009 13:52:38 +0000 In February 2009, an editorial appeared in Nature 'The way ahead for polar science'. The authors stressed that, although the 4th International Polar Year (IPY) has come to an end, polar research should remain a top priority. They also urged for setting up an open archive to collect all the data generated by IPY and to make these publicly available for further research.... ]]> Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:57:16 +0000 The World Cetacea Database containing all currently accepted scientific names for whales, dolphins and porpoises is now up and running. Visit www.marinespecies.org/cetacea.... ]]> Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:52:31 +0000 The Remipedia DB has been launched and is running on www.marinespecies.org/remipedia. It contains all currently known and recognized species (and higher taxa).... ]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:55:11 +0000 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:06:59 +0000 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:00:43 +0000 I just wished to announce that the World Asteroidea Database containing all currently accepted starfish names (over 1,800 and counting) is now up and running! Visit www.marinespecies.org/asteroidea... ]]>