WoRMS, FishBase and SeaLifeBase sign a Memorandum of Understanding
This MoU provides the basis for cooperative work between and by FishBase and SeaLifeBase and the World Register of Marine Species.
In September 2017, the WoRMS Data Management Team was invited to attend the 15th International FishBase Symposium in Tervuren (Belgium) to talk about the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), its underlying database Aphia, and how this relates to its underlying global, regional and thematic registers and the LifeWatch Taxonomic Backbone.
During the closed meeting of the FishBase Consortium, the Data Management Team went into more detail on the already existing collaboration between FishBase and WoRMS, specifically on the taxonomic level, where FishBase is seen as the main taxonomic resource for fish names in WoRMS. In addition, several options for further collaborations were looked into, such as the wish of WoRMS to also document fish distributions and traits, e.g. body sizes and host-parasite relationships.
It was perceived that not only FishBase is a valuable resource for WoRMS, but its sister-database SeaLifeBase could also significantly contribute to WoRMS. SeaLifeBase is a joint project of the Sea Around Us (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) and The FishBase Information and Research Group, Inc. Whereas FishBase provides an authoritative list of fish species, SeaLifeBase is aiming at making available the biological and ecological information necessary to conduct biodiversity and ecosystem studies. SeaLifeBase is thus an enormous potential resource for additional traits-information that could feed into WoRMS.
The general objective of this MoU is to establish a found framework for cooperation between these three databases WoRMS, FishBase & SeaLifeBase, so they can best serve the scientific community and to promote their use for scientific research.
During the closed meeting of the FishBase Consortium, the Data Management Team went into more detail on the already existing collaboration between FishBase and WoRMS, specifically on the taxonomic level, where FishBase is seen as the main taxonomic resource for fish names in WoRMS. In addition, several options for further collaborations were looked into, such as the wish of WoRMS to also document fish distributions and traits, e.g. body sizes and host-parasite relationships.
It was perceived that not only FishBase is a valuable resource for WoRMS, but its sister-database SeaLifeBase could also significantly contribute to WoRMS. SeaLifeBase is a joint project of the Sea Around Us (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) and The FishBase Information and Research Group, Inc. Whereas FishBase provides an authoritative list of fish species, SeaLifeBase is aiming at making available the biological and ecological information necessary to conduct biodiversity and ecosystem studies. SeaLifeBase is thus an enormous potential resource for additional traits-information that could feed into WoRMS.
The general objective of this MoU is to establish a found framework for cooperation between these three databases WoRMS, FishBase & SeaLifeBase, so they can best serve the scientific community and to promote their use for scientific research.
