The World Asteroidea Database (WAD) is a taxonomic database for sea stars, derived from the 'Asteroid Names List' by Ailsa M. Clark. It is complemented by other echinoderm compendia and includes subsequent taxonomic changes and newly described taxa. Data are contributed to the Catalogue of Life via the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ).
Use Cases
- Taxonomic classification and name resolution based on the integrated species list.
- Tracking taxonomic changes and synonymy over time based on the described compilation method.
- Biodiversity data integration for marine species based on the link to the Catalogue of Life and WoRMS.
Strengths
- Integrates multiple authoritative taxonomic compendia, including Clark & Downey's 'Starfishes of the Atlantic'.
- Managed within the established WoRMS and Catalogue of Life infrastructure hosted by VLIZ.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
Provenance
- Source
- Crawler.Gbif.Org via paperswithcode; original data from Ailsa M. Clark's 'Asteroid Names List' and other compendia.
- Collection Method
- Compilation and aggregation from multiple taxonomic literature sources.
- Geography
- Global, as implied by the 'World' database scope and inclusion of Atlantic and Australian catalogs.