Species Search
Image Database
Video Database
Reference Database
Researcher Directory
Predators Database
Prey Database
Biogeography
About CephBase
Collaborators
Links
Frequently Asked Questions
Beak Database



NOPP
The Cephalopod Page
Census of Marine Life
OBIS
FishBase
Sea anemones
FAO/FIGIS
SeaMounts Online
   Sea Around Us Project

  CSIRO Marine Research




For comments, questions
and corrections email cephbase@hotmail.com
Co-creators:
James B. Wood and
Catriona L.Day
Maintained by:
Catriona Day
©CephBase 1998-2006

Welcome to CephBase
Images © Dr. James B. Wood
Welcome to CephBase
A database-driven web site on all living cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautilus)

June 16, 2006

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 1642 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. Please take a look at: The CephBase Image Database; Cataloging color, shape and texture for more information about why color images are so important for science.

Video Database:
There are 147 video clips in the video database. In order to view the videos you must have Java enabled together with Flash player.

Reference Database:
There are now over 6000 ceph papers in our reference database, including 13 papers published in 2006, 29 papers published in 2005, 53 papers published in 2004, 157 papers published in 2003 and 1170 references in pdf format, available for download. Please send reprints to Catriona Day, Fisheries Centre, Fisheries Centre, Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4 and email pdfs to cephbase @ hotmail.com. Reprints and pdfs we receive will be added to CephBase in time. Thank you for your patience.

Researcher Directory:
Looking for a grad school supervisor or cephalopod expert? There are 419 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.

Please also take a look at who we are, our feedback, who helps us, links, FAQ's (courtesy of The Cephalopod Page) and the CIAC beak database.

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.