GLOBAL: Census of marine life at half-way mark

Researchers from around the world are closing in on their goal of creating the first complete inventory of all scientifically described and named marine species by 2010. The Census of Marine Life project is consolidating 34 different databases of ocean life and recently announced it had reached the half-way mark, with some 122,500 validated species names.

To get to that point, scientists had to sort through a range of organisms that had been described more than once, deciding on a single scientific name in each case. More than 56,000 names were culled in this way, with the humble "breadcrumb sponge" leading the pack with 56 aliases accumulated since 1794.

Even the creator of the two-word Latin nomenclature for species, Carl Linnaeus, has had his work corrected. Linnaeus assigned four names to a single species of sperm whale - a mistake spotted years ago but which still appears in some sources.

When complete the World Register of Marine Species is expected to list more than 230,000 species and scientists involved in the project believe three times as many remain to be described.

Register co-founder, Dr Mark Costello of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said the project would help with efforts to manage and conserve ocean life.

"This project will improve information vital to researchers investigating fisheries, invasive species, threatened species and marine ecosystem functioning, as well as to educators. It will eliminate the misinterpretation of names, confusion over Latin spellings, redundancies and a host of other problems that sow confusion and slow scientific progress."

Census of Marine Life scientist Philippe Bouchet said the register was essential: "Describing species without a universal register in place is like setting up a library without an index catalogue," he said.

Bouchet also noted that researchers were finding new species faster than they could describe them, calculating that 3,800 taxonomists entered at least 1,400 new marine species into the literature every year.

The register is hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute in Belgium and has received early funding from a range of sources. It is online at Species: www.marinespecies.org

* John Gerritsen is editor of NZ Education Review.
john.gerritsen@uw-news.com