About the Rotifer World Catalog
Please note that bugs and performance issues may still occur in this regulary updated and improved database. If you notice any of these, please give us your feedback here, or by contacting us directly at christian.jersabek@sbg.ac.at.
The Catalog was started in 2006 with the goal to set up an individual page for every rotifer species. A number of organisations and individuals provided support and have contributed in different ways (see a full list of supporters here). MS-Access-based data management and quality control is done by Christian D. Jersabek, who takes full responsibility for data collation and content assembly in this site. Database design and development was by Martin F. Leitner and C. D. Jersabek.
The RWC now includes a complete inventory of all validly published species- and genus-group names known to us. The nomenclator not only covers nomenclaturally available and taxonomically valid names, but also rotifer names that were never available and names that are currently treated as invalid. Higher (suprageneric) taxon entry has so far been completed only for names that are considered to be taxonomically valid. This names-based infrastructure is used to relate an ever growing amount of associated biological, distributional, bibliographical and image data to individual taxa. See data summary below.
LAST UPDATE: 25 July 2022
At present the RWC stores 4034 nominal taxa of specific or infraspecific rank, of which 3067 are nomenclaturally available names sensu ICZN*.
Including generic and higher taxon names the RWC-Nomenclator currently amounts to 4413 taxonomic names.
Taxon statistics for Phylum Rotifera:
3278 3553 | Species, all Species, all (incl. subspecies) |
2026 2180 | Species, valid Species, valid (incl. subspecies) |
657 | Species synonyms |
648 | Species inquirendae et incertae sedis |
49 | Nomina nuda (Species) |
332 | Genera, all (incl. subgenera) |
145 | Genera, valid (incl. subgenera) |
126 | Genus synonyms |
38 | Genera inquirendae et incertae sedis |
5 | Nomina nuda (Genera) |
36 | Families, valid |
4 | Orders, valid |
2 | Superorders, valid |
2 | Subclasses, valid |
2 | Classes, valid |
Data statistics for the RWC:
21587 | Occurrence records (8025 georeferenced) |
14651 | Illustrated records (published artwork & photographs) |
4065 | Bibliographic references |
1919 | Localities (all georeferenced) |
4002 | Collecting events (all georeferenced) |
1630 | Habitat images |
887 | Specimen images (museum specimens and field observations) |
5250 | Specimen preparations |
2000 | Type specimen preparations (1202 name bearing types) |
78 | Repositories |
Original data are stored and organized in a relational MS Access 2010 database, currently in 70 tables and 700+ fields, while MS SQL Server 2008 R2 is the database platform used for managing web application data for the RWC.
The RWC-database schema: