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World Association of Copepodologists |
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DELTA project and the Crustacea.net
Crustacea.net is a website (http://crustacea.net/) that provides information in the form of monographs and illustrated interactive keys. Keys are developed using DELTA (Dallwitz, Paine & Zurcher, 1997), a freely available software which manages taxonomic research and produces natural language descriptions, interactive keys, and nexus files for phylogenetic studies. The primary aim of crustacea.net is to develop online interactive keys to the 800+ families of crustaceans. These fully illustrated keys can be used by anyone with access to the web to identify crustaceans anywhere in the world without expert knowledge of crustaceans or extensive library facilities.
Interest in the project is generated through workshops which teach carcinologists how to use DELTA for their taxonomic research and how to produce information for crustacea.net. So far workshops have been held at the University of Maine, USA; Australian Museum, Sydney; Kristineberg Marine Research Station, Sweden; NIWA, Wellington, New Zealand. The next workshop is at the Los Angeles County Museum this month. An interactive key to the higher taxa allows anyone to identify crustaceans to order level. From here family level keys magically appear. Dr. Janet Bradford-Grieve has produced an illustrated interactive key to the 43 families of calanoid copepods. This is the first copepod group on the website. The key is available online at the following address, from which DELTA can also be downloaded: http://www.crustacea.net/crustace/calanoida/ident.htm
Workers interested in participating in this crustacean project can contact Janet Bradford-Grieve at j.grieve@niwa.co.nz or Jim Lowry at jimlowry@crustacea.net Contributed by: Janet M. Bradford-Grieve, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Box 14901, Wellington, New Zealand |
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