CAS - Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology

Help Searching for Genera in the Diatom Names Database

The database contains nomenclatural information such as genus name, author, original reference, page, type and author of typification (if applicable). We also comment on the status of the name (e.g., whether it is validly published or not, legitimate or not, etc.). Most of the information in this table has been verified against the original publication in which each name was proposed.

Queries

The table can be searched by any criteria in the query form. Enter one or more search criteria and press the "Search" button at the bottom of the form. Records matching all search criteria will be retrieved. Searches are not case sensitive.

If the field is for a text, a "sub-string search" will be performed. For example, searching for "Denticula" in the genus field will retrieve Crucidenticula, Denticula and Neodenticula.

The field "Year of Publication" can be searched as a single year, a range [1945-1965], or an open range, such as [ -1800] (up to 1800 inclusive) or [1985- ] since 1985 (do not use brackets).

Results

Query feedback. The query parameters entered on the form are summarized in query language at the top of every result page. Read the query statement to be sure that the query being processed is what you intended. Some browsers have a tendency to "remember" parameters from previous queries. Press the Reset button between queries to clear previously used parameters.

Number of records. The number of records retrieved by every query is reported immediately after the query feedback (near the top of the page) as the results are being formatted. If the number returned is much larger than you expected or want to wait for, press the "STOP" button on your browser to cancel the query. You can create a more restrictive query by entering additional search criteria on the form.

Retrieval Limit. The number of records retrieved is limited to 500 to prevent "excessive resource consumption" by a single user and to prevent browser crashes; large result sets can cause some computers to lock up. Note that 500 taxonomic records amounts to more than a megabyte of data. If you need a result set larger than 500 records please contact Sarah Spaulding or Jean DeMouthe.

Output format. We hope the content and structure of retrieved records will be self explanatory, but some of the field definitions below may provide additional insight. At present the only type of output is HTML. We hope to provide structured text and XML in the near future.

Field definitions

Genus:: Name of a genus
Author:: Author(s) of the genus name
Publication Year:: Year the genus name was validly published
Publication number:: A six digit number given to each publication by the diatom collection of the California Academy of Sciences. The publication numbers are also the same as those published in: Fourtanier & Kociolek, "Catalogue of the Diatom Genera", Diatom Research, 14(1):1-190 (1999).
Generitype:: Type of the genus (the name of a species)
Designated by:: Author(s) who designated the type
Nomenclatural status:: Nomenclatural status of the generic name, e.g., validly published or not, nomen nudum, nom. cons., nom. rej. In this field we also indicate if a name is illegitimate or superfluous.
Display options:: Page Style - Multiple Pages/Single Page; Choose Multiple Pages if you would like the results displayed 20 per page, one page at a time. If you would like all the results displayed on one page, choose Single Page.; Record Style - Brief Records/Full Records; Brief Records will display only a few fields of data for each record. Full Records will display all of the data for each record. Be warned that choosing Single Page and Full Records can take a long time to download if there are a large number of records.

Please, forward your comments to:

Elisabeth Fourtanier
- efourtanier@calacademy.org

Pat Kociolek
- pkociolek@calacademy.org