Vanhoorne

Aphia is the engine behind several marine taxonomic databases running at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ).
These can be focused on a specific taxonomic group or a specific region.
Each list would then contribute to its “parent” WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species - www.marinespecies.org).

Aphia has now evolved to a mature system that is able to handle most taxonomic data.
An online edit interface has been written and thoroughly tested during the last years.
Many new world lists have been added since the beginning. Aphia contains now about 75,000 valid species names.
Recently there has been some new developments, like specimens and taxon match.

More developments are on the way and should contribute to one consistent system that can contain all marine taxa.