World Register of Marine Species (WORMS)

World Register of Marine Species (WORMS) provides a quality-assured, integrated taxonomy and registry of marine species names to support taxonomic standardization and marine biodiversity research.

Key Features:

• Integrated taxonomy framework: Integrates over 100 global, 12 regional, and 4 thematic species databases into a unified taxonomy.
• Extensive database: Contains over 460,000 taxonomic names, including 368,000 species-level combinations, 215,000 accepted marine species names, and 26,000 related non-marine species.
• Rich associated data: Includes approximately 150,000 literature sources, 20,000 images, and locations for 44,000 specimens.
• Collaborative curation: Content is curated by over 240 editors from 133 institutions across 31 countries.
• Data exchange: Exchanges content with 10 external databases to reduce duplication and enhance completeness.
• Quality assurance: Provides quality-assured nomenclatural information covering names, synonyms, and classification.

Scientific Applications:

• Taxonomy: Provides expert-validated species names, synonym resolution, and hierarchical classification for taxonomic research.
• Biodiversity research: Supports marine biodiversity studies by supplying standardized names and linked literature, specimen, and image data.
• Ecology and conservation: Facilitates ecological and conservation analyses by enabling quality control of species names used in data management and policy assessments.
• Data management and communication: Reduces nomenclatural errors and improves consistency in scientific communication and databases.

Methodology:

Integrates diverse species databases into a common taxonomy that is continuously updated by a global network of expert editors and exchanges content with external databases.