A taxonomic list of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial isopod crustaceans, originally initiated by the US National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. The database is now reconstructed at marinespecies.org, hosting more detailed information on synonymies and distributions, images, original literature, and specimen data. Data are contributed to the Catalogue of Life via the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute.
Use Cases
- Taxonomic classification and nomenclature validation based on the authoritative species list.
- Studying species distributions across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats.
- Analyzing synonymies and historical taxonomic relationships.
- Building biodiversity datasets by integrating data contributed to the Catalogue of Life.
- Hosting and linking to supplementary data such as images and specimen records.
Strengths
- Originates from the US National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, providing authoritative nomenclature.
- Hosts detailed information on synonymies and distributions, beyond a basic list.
- Capable to host more information, such as images, original literature, and specimen data.
- Integrated with the Catalogue of Life via the WoRMS platform, enhancing interoperability.
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
- US National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; reconstructed at marinespecies.org.
- Collection Method
- Curated taxonomic list, with monthly transfers back to the Smithsonian site.
- Geography
- Global coverage of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats.