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WoRMS Philanthropy Grants 2024
Added on 2025-02-04 17:35:48 by Dekeyzer, Stefanie
In 2024, the VLIZ Philanthropy program awarded four grants to help WoRMS editors enhance the completeness of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). These efforts led to nearly 9,000 edits and additions to WoRMS and its sub-registers.The WoRMS Philanthropy grants are part of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) philanthropy initiative. Following a call launched in May 2024, five editors submitted applications. After careful evaluation, four were selected to receive grants of €1,000 each to expand WoRMS with missing data, focusing on type localities, original names, references to original descriptions, and type species.
Tristan Verhoeff (University of Tasmania), editor for Brachiopoda in WoRMS, used the grant to add approximately 2,000 brachiopod taxa, including over 200 genera and 100 higher taxonomic ranks such as subfamilies, families, and superfamilies. He also updated or added 900 specimens, 1,000 type localities (mostly for fossil taxa), and 360 taxonomic, etymological, and stratigraphic notes. While the primary focus was on fossil brachiopods, several living species described in 2023–2024 were also included.
José María Guerrero (Herbarium LPC, Museo de La Plata), a DiatomBase editor, aimed to close gaps in information on Bacillariophyceae taxa from southern South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Uruguay). Collaborating with Amelia Alejandra Vouilloud and Anabel Alejandra Lamaro, he added 41 new taxa, updated 429 existing ones, revised 635 specimens and 488 distributions, and created or edited 27 sources alongside 36 notes.
Thomas Neubauer (Bavarian State Collection) and Simon Schneider (CASP), both MolluscaBase editors, focused on fossil marine Mollusca. They employed a student, Florian Broda, to extract data from five key 19th-century monographs on European gastropods and bivalves. This work resulted in 630 newly added names (629 original), 629 descriptions (with 24 notes), and 697 type locality records.
Tammy Horton and Georgina Valls Domedel (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton) worked on Amphipoda, specifically the Lysianassoidea superfamily. They added type locality data for 208 species in smaller families directly into the World Amphipoda Database. For larger families, such as Aristioidea and Lysianassidae, they compiled data on 839 species into a spreadsheet, which will soon be uploaded to WoRMS following a final review.
We extend our gratitude to everyone who supported the VLIZ Philanthropy project “Support the WoRMS editors.” These grants have made a meaningful impact on advancing the completeness of WoRMS.
Detailed grant reports are available online for consultation.
Image credits:
Tristan Verhoeff (University of Tasmania), editor for Brachiopoda in WoRMS, used the grant to add approximately 2,000 brachiopod taxa, including over 200 genera and 100 higher taxonomic ranks such as subfamilies, families, and superfamilies. He also updated or added 900 specimens, 1,000 type localities (mostly for fossil taxa), and 360 taxonomic, etymological, and stratigraphic notes. While the primary focus was on fossil brachiopods, several living species described in 2023–2024 were also included.
José María Guerrero (Herbarium LPC, Museo de La Plata), a DiatomBase editor, aimed to close gaps in information on Bacillariophyceae taxa from southern South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Uruguay). Collaborating with Amelia Alejandra Vouilloud and Anabel Alejandra Lamaro, he added 41 new taxa, updated 429 existing ones, revised 635 specimens and 488 distributions, and created or edited 27 sources alongside 36 notes.
Thomas Neubauer (Bavarian State Collection) and Simon Schneider (CASP), both MolluscaBase editors, focused on fossil marine Mollusca. They employed a student, Florian Broda, to extract data from five key 19th-century monographs on European gastropods and bivalves. This work resulted in 630 newly added names (629 original), 629 descriptions (with 24 notes), and 697 type locality records.
Tammy Horton and Georgina Valls Domedel (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton) worked on Amphipoda, specifically the Lysianassoidea superfamily. They added type locality data for 208 species in smaller families directly into the World Amphipoda Database. For larger families, such as Aristioidea and Lysianassidae, they compiled data on 839 species into a spreadsheet, which will soon be uploaded to WoRMS following a final review.
We extend our gratitude to everyone who supported the VLIZ Philanthropy project “Support the WoRMS editors.” These grants have made a meaningful impact on advancing the completeness of WoRMS.
Detailed grant reports are available online for consultation.
Image credits:
- Brachipod: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/services/collections/palaeontology/brachiopods.html
- Mollusc: https://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=image&pic=168336&tid=1459210
- Amphipod: https://marinespecies.org/photogallery.php?album=716&pic=10190
- Diatom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom#/media/File:Diatomeas-Haeckel.jpg
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