FishBase

FishBase is a database containing all the fishes known to science, with information useful for a wide range of users from fisheries managers to biology teachers.1

Description

Bar-tailed flathead Platycephalus endrachtensis.2

FishBase is an information system with key data on the biology of allfishes. It includes descriptions of over 30,000 species, over 260,000 common names in hundreds of languages, over 45,000 pictures, and references to more than 40,000 works in the scientific literature. 3

The SPECIES table is the backbone of FishBase, and has the scientific name as its basic unit. Every bit of information in FishBase is attached directly or indirectly to at least one species and it is mostly through this table that information is accessed. The information in the SPECIES table has been derived from more than 3,500 references.4

The SPECIES table presents the valid scientific name and author of a species or subspecies and assigns it to a family, order and class. Where available, a unique English common name is given. Additional information in the SPECIES table relates to maximum age and size, habitat, uses, and general biological remarks. The references used to derive the information are given.

The SPECIES table has links to additional information such as a picture of the fish, a map showing distributional information, higher taxa, synonyms, common names, available life history parameters, all references used, all colleagues who contributed or verified information, etc.5

FishBase does not have:6

• Complete checklists (of 296 countries/islands, 70 marine and 140 freshwater checklists were complete in 2000);
• Fish behaviour (only reproductive and trophic behaviour);
• Traditional distribution maps (maps only highlight or mark countries from which a species is reported and plot the occurrence points currently available);
• All references for all species (only list publications that contain suitable information and that have been used so far, currently >20,000);
• Pictures for all fishes (>25,000 pictures for >10,000 species in 2000).

FishBase covers only fish and not other marine forms such as molluscs or crustaceans.7

FishBase has been developed at the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and many other partners. FishBase has been funded mainly through sequential grants from the European Commission.8

Function

• Visualisation tools
  • Maps
  • Images
• Taxonomy
  • Identification tools
• User interface
  • Personal and institutional use
  • Raw data and visual presentation

Why use this tool?

• A biological information source for all fishes

Who will use this tool?

Similar to an encyclopedia, FishBase contains different things for different people.

For example: 9

• fisheries managers will dive into the largest existing compilation of population dynamics data;
• teachers and students will find numerous graphs illustrating basic concepts of fish biology;
• taxonomists will enjoy access to the November 2000 update of Eschmeyer’s (1998) Catalog of Fishes databases;
• conservationists will use the lists of threatened fishes for any given country (Hilton-Taylor 2000);
• policymakers may be interested in a chronological, annotated list of introductions to their country;
• research scientists, as well as funding agencies, will find it useful to gain a quick overview of what is known about a certain species;
• zoologists and physiologists will have the largest existing compilations of fish morphology, metabolism, gill area, brain size, eye pigment, or swimming speed at their fingertips;
• ecologists will likewise use data on diet composition, trophic levels, food consumption and predators as inputs for their models;
• geneticists will find the largest compilation of allele frequencies;
• the fishing industry will find proximate analyses, as well as processing recommendations for many marine species;
• anglers will enjoy a listing of all game fishes occurring in a particular country (IGFA 1994);
• scholars interested in local knowledge will find more than 100,000 common names of fishes together with the language/culture in which they are used and comments on their etymology

• Data capture
  • Curators – specimens, identification
• Data users
  • Expert
  • Interest groups
  • General public

How will the tool be used?

Divers, anglers, aquarists, researchers can create their personal/institutional databases of where and when they have seen, caught, or acquired what fish. Biodiversity managers can create national fish biodiversity databases to keep track of local regulations and uses. Anthropologists can create a database on local knowledge about fish.10

• Online and desktop versions
• CD requires windows
• Online data is available as XML
• User input required

Where in the data chain could this tool be used?

• Data source
• ALA central
• User’s machine

When could this tool be used?

• Before data is made available to ALA
• At the time of a user request

Availability

• FishBase: http://www.fishbase.org/
• FishBase book: http://www.fishbase.org/Download/FBBook_English.zip
• CD release 2004
• Copyright: International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management11
• Copyright for photos, drawings or arrangements of data remains with the contributors.12

Comments

• FishBase CD contains a database that could be used as a source of data for the ALA.
• A link, for example, from an ALA species page could be used to connect that species to an information page on FishBase.
• Uses both common names and scientific names.