Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the
scientific names of fish species and genera. It is global in its scope and is hosted by the
California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...
. It has been compiled and is continuously updated by the
curator
A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...
emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
In some c ...
of the CAS fish collection,
William N. Eschmeyer.
The
taxonomy
image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy
Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...
maintained by the Catalog of Fishes is considered authoritative and it is used as a baseline reference for instance by the broader global fish database
FishBase
FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web. , which involves cross-references to the Catalog's information for all accepted
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
. the searchable catalogue contains entries for about 58,300 fish species names, about 33,400 of which are currently accepted (valid), and for some 10,600 genera (5,100 valid).
Biodiversity Information Projects of the World: ''Catalog of Fishes''
. Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) project. The information given for any species name generally contains the reference to the original description, to the type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...
, references to the usage of the name in taxonomic literature, a statement of the current status of the name and valid name of the taxon, and the family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
it belongs to.
A printed 3000-page three-volume and CD version of the Catalogue was published in 1998. That was preceded by a ''Catalog of the genera of recent fishes'' in 1990.[Rainer Froese]
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes
FishBase
FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web. (15 Feb 2015)
The Catalog was renamed Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes in 2019, and is now edited by Ronald Fricke, Richard van der Laan and William N. Eschmeyer. It is available online, and updated monthly.
See also
*FishBase
FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.
*WoRMS
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms.
Content
The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
*Fishes of the World
''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...
*International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...
References
{{reflist
Original resource
* Eschmeyer, W.N
Catalog of Fishes Online Database
*Eschmeyer, W.N. (ed.) 1998. Catalog of fishes. Special Publication, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 3 vols. 2905 p.
*Eschmeyer, W.N. 1990. Catalog of the genera of recent fishes. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 697 p.
Biodiversity databases
Fish taxonomy
Ichthyological literature