European Ocean Biodiversity Information System

CephBase is a dynamic relational database-driven web site that has been online since 1998. CephBase provides taxonomic data, distribution, images, videos, predator and prey data, size, references and scientific contact information for all living species of cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautilus) in an easy to access, user-friendly manner. Species Database: Search by scientific, common name or synonym to call up species-specific pages with information such as full taxonomy, type species, names, size, predators, prey, biogeography, distribution maps, country lists, life history, images, videos, references, genetic information links and other internet resources. Image Database: Search our ~1650 cephalopod images which cover all life stages, behaviour, ecology, taxonomy as well as many other aspects of these amazing animals. Each image has a caption, key words, location, photographer and other data. Video Database: There are ~150 video clips in the video database. Reference Database: There are now over 6000 ceph papers in our reference database. Researcher Directory: Looking for a grad school supervisor or cephalopod expert? There are over 400 names in the International Directory of Cephalopod Workers. Predators and Prey: Search by predator, prey or cephalopod species in our predators and prey databases. Biogeography: In collaboration with The Sea Around Us Project (Daniel Pauly, Principal Investigator), the species-specific occurrence records already in CephBase and geographical distributions of commercial species in the 1984 FAO Species Catalogue, have been allocated to 18 FAO Statistical Areas, 64 Large Marine Ecosystems and the Exclusive Economic Zones of about 200 maritime countries and territories. See the Biogeography page. Links to country lists are available on each species page, where applicable. Plots of the occurrence records can now be plotted with either the C-Squares Mapper (courtesy of Tony Rees, CSIRO) or the OBIS Specimen Mapper (courtesy of the Kansas Geological Survey and the Hexacorallia Project) and the distribution range maps can be viewed. You can also view feedback we have received, FAQ's, links, our collaborators and the CIAC beak database in CephBase. The CephBase project was created in 1998 by Dr. James Wood and Catriona Day, at Dalhousie University (Dr. Ron O'Dor, Principal Investigator), supported by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Since 2000, the database has been housed at the National Resource Center for Cephalopods at the University of Texas Medical Branch (Dr. Phil Lee, Principal Investigator) and continues to be maintained by Catriona Day at the UBC Fisheries Centre, Vancouver, BC. CephBase is part of the Census of Marine Life, an international program to explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life.