Database overview

Species occurrences are entered into a relational database using the software Microsoft Access. For each occurrence, the following information is recorded:

• species name, authority, and higher taxonomy
• locality information
• collector's name
• collection date
• data source (museum accession numbers, literature reference)

As of July 2007, the CBRISC database contains in excess of 14,500 records of species occurrences. Currently, we are serving data for the 30 gastropod species for which our data are the most complete. For these species, the CBRISC database contains all their occurrences from our target natural history museums, with the exception of The National Museum of Natural History.

Our goal is to configure this database such that it (1) is dynamically searchable via this web site, and (2) may be added to by other researchers studying southern California rocky intertidal organisms.

Query database for selected species

To access occurrence data for the eight species currently being served, select one of the species from the pull-down menu below. The data include a list of occurrences with locality information and collection year (click here for a new window giving the specifc rules used to infer dates of collection).