Biodiversity · Database
WoRMS
Authoritative register and classification of marine species names, synonyms, and distributions.
What WoRMS is
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is an authoritative classification and catalogue of marine organisms. Developed and hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute and powered by LifeWatch Belgium, it provides a unified inventory of marine species names, synonyms, classifications, and distribution records.
Navigating marine biodiversity research requires resolving complex, evolving taxonomic nomenclature across disparate literature. WoRMS addresses this by continually updating records to reflect current published scientific knowledge without generating independent taxonomic revisions, providing researchers with a validated baseline for marine biodiversity.
How it is organised
The platform records accepted species alongside known synonyms and associated imagery, monitoring editorial progress through checking status metrics. It also provides tools such as WoRMS Match Taxa and web services to enable programmatic and batch taxonomic validation.
Key facts
- Editorial network
- 372 editors
- Developer and host
- Flanders Marine Institute
- Infrastructure support
- LifeWatch Belgium
What you can use it for
- Taxonomic name resolution
- Standardising species lists and matching historical or conflicting synonyms to accepted taxon names using WoRMS Match Taxa and related web services.
- Biodiversity data integration
- Supplying validated marine taxonomy and species records into national platforms, subregisters, and regional biodiversity portals.
- Trait and ecosystem research workflows
- Linking validated taxonomic identifiers with biological traits and distribution data for regional marine analyses.
Query it here
The research agent queries WoRMS directly — no account, no API key — and every answer links back to the record it came from. Ask in plain language and it writes the query.
Strengths and limits
Good at
- Editorial oversight is conducted by hundreds of specialised taxonomic editors.
- Provides automated name-matching tools and programmatic web services for data workflows.
Watch out for
- Does not introduce new taxonomic decisions, relying strictly on existing scientific publications.
- A portion of records remains unverified, including roughly 2% of accepted species and 18% of species images.
Questions
Can I search WoRMS without writing code?
Yes. The research agent queries WoRMS directly, with no account or API key, and cites the record behind every answer. Ask in plain language — for a gene, a protein, a compound or a study — and it builds the query for you.
Can I reuse data from WoRMS?
CC BY 4.0. Terms: https://www.marinespecies.org/about.php#what_is_worms
Does WoRMS establish new taxonomic classifications or decisions?
No. The register strives to reflect current published scientific knowledge and does not make new taxonomic decisions.
How can researchers check lists of taxa against WoRMS?
Researchers can reconcile species lists using tools such as WoRMS Match Taxa, LifeWatch Match Taxa, and dedicated web services.
Who maintains the database?
The database is developed and hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute, supported by LifeWatch Belgium, and curated by a global network of taxonomic editors and a Data Management Team.
Written from WoRMS's own website and reference material. Statements citing a figure that does not appear there are removed before publication. Licence and running details come from our registry.