Search the National Biological Information Infrastructure Metadata Clearinghouse for more biological information.

When you connect to the NBII Metadata Clearinghouse you will be able to search through metadata-based descriptions of biological data sets and information products from many different sources to identify those that meet your particular search criteria.

The NBII Metadata Clearinghouse: http://metadata.nbii.gov/

The NBII Home Page: http://www.nbii.gov/

UNESCO IOC Register of Marine Organisms

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator:: Joint Project with The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, Netherlands, and the Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification (ETI) in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Publication_Date: 2001

Title: UNESCO IOC Register of Marine Organisms

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: maps data

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: The Netherlands

Publisher: ETI Biodiversity Center

Online_Linkage:: http://www2.eti.uva.nl/database/urmo/download/download.shtml

Description:

Abstract:: The UNESCO IOC Register of Marine Organisms is an easily searchable database which is a component of the ETI World Biodiversity Database. The Register of Marine Organisms is an already large and gradually growing dataset that is being built up, and maintained at the National Museum of Natural History, Leiden, the Netherlands. As soon as datasets for particular groups are more or less complete and reliable or at least useful, they are being transferred to the database at ETI in Amsterdam. The same holds for updates in the future. The register is basically only a list of species names but it is tried to add at least some additional information, including author names, vernacular names, information on geographical and bathymetrical distribution and NODC numerical codes. Synonyms are added but only if they are still in use or were used in recent times.

Purpose:: At the present time, many efforts are being undertaken to prepare partial biodiversity inventories at different levels - global, regional and national. The Register is, therefore, intended to act as a tool for the collection of information necessary to the development of strategies at the decision-making level for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

Supplemental_Information:: Information was taken from the web site - http://www2.eti.uva.nl/database/urmo/default.html. The Register will draw on a checklist of marine organisms with a bibliography of key works. The initial phase of the project extends to the family level and it has largely been completed. The Register can, thus, provide a framework for more detailed work, such as compiling inventories of species. Furthermore, as a comprehensive list of marine organism families, the Register will act as an 'entering key' to more specific lists/databases (e.g. the ETI products). The second phase, already started, is aimed at expanding the Register down to the species level. The further development of the project must, however, be considered as an on-going exercise, leading to a product which also includes tools as guidance for identification. The Register is also aimed at building up a basis for an internationally agreed taxonomic terminology of marine organisms. In fact, while the project of a comprehensive register of marine organisms does not have the pretention of making taxonomists agree once and for all, the Register could hopefully act as a co-ordinating mechanism to help stabilize nomenclature. This goal is being achieved through the involvement of many specialists and, to this end, some 400 floppy disks with a draft register of families were distributed worldwide and numerous taxonomists were invited to contribute. Meanwhile many reviewed the first draft and provided their inputs to the completion of lists of species of several selected groups. Another important goal of such a project is to come up with a reliable assessment of the number of marine species. Assessing the effective number of marine species is probably an impossible task. However, it is time to show what the international scientific community does know in this field. The Register, which will also be released on computer CD-ROM, is also aimed at promoting computer assisted taxonomy. This appears very important, especially in those countries where good libraries are scarce or absent. Furthermore, a computer database can always be easily updated. The US National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) Taxonomic Code - which is a hierarchical system of numerical codes used to represent the scientific name of organisms - has been introduced into the Register. This need for a coding system arises because biological data are nowadays increasingly processed by computer, and several taxonomic coding systems have been developed accordingly. The advantage is that, once a coding system has been introduced, the records can be easily manipulated. Similarly, FAO provided their standardized lists of common names in use for fisheries purposes for inclusion in the Register. The Register is also intended to help circulate biological data within the International Oceanographic Data Information and Exchange System (IODE), thus becoming accessible to IODE system users as well. (previous geoform was 'Database')

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates_Times:

Beginning_Date: Unknown

Ending_Date: Present

Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Status:

Progress: In Work

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Continually

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent: Global

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -180

East_Bounding_Coordinate: 180

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 90

South_Bounding_Coordinate: -90

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: none

Theme_Keyword: biodiversity

Theme_Keyword: marine organisms

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: none

Place_Keyword: world

Taxonomy:

Keywords_Taxon:

Taxonomic_Keyword_Thesaurus: none

Taxonomic_Keywords: marine organisms

Taxonomic_System:

Taxonomic_Procedures: unknown

Taxonomic_Completeness:: The recognized phyla in the Register are as listed below (for the time being multicellular animals only). Phyla that have been (partly) incorporated in the database part of the Register are highlighted. For these phyla there are separate classification pages which include common names and go down to the family level; taxa for which species have been entered in the database are indicated by an asterisk (*). 01. Porifera 02. Placozoa 03. Mesozoa (includes Rhombozoa and Orthonectida); 04. Cnidaria (Coelenterata) 05. Ctenophora 06. Sipuncula (Sipunculida) 07. Echiura (Echiurida) 08. Mollusca (Cephalopoda) 09. Annelida (includes Pogonophora and Vestimentifera) 10. Arthropoda (Pycnogonida) 11. Tardigrada 12. Plathelminthes (Platyhelminthes) 13. Nemertini (Nemertea) 14. Bryozoa (includes Entoprocta, Ectoprocta, and Cycliophora) 15. Gastrotricha 16. Nematoda 17. Cephalorhyncha (includes Kinorhyncha,Nematomorpha, Priapulida and Loricifera) 18. Chaetognatha 19. Rotatoria (Rotifera) 20. Acanthocephala 21. Phoronida 22. Brachiopoda 23. Echinodermata 24. Gnathostomulida 25. Hemichordata 26. Chordata

General_Taxonomic_Coverage:: http://www2.eti.uva.nl/database/urmo/clssfctn/default.shtml