As part of the Darwin Nematode Project at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, free
software has been developed which aids the identification of marine
nematodes to genus level. The software is FREE and available on CD-Rom now.
The software is not limited to nematode identification as it has been
designed to be a generic taxonomic tool for any species or animals. It uses
a generic XML data structure for storage of taxonomic information which we
hope will become a standard.
The software is cross platform (it has been built using Java and XML). The
system is almost entirely pictorial. Images representing features of the
animals in question are displayed and chosen as appropriate - the software
then matches these to the most likely genus and displays them pictorially.
More information about the software and the Darwin Nematode Project as a
whole can be found on the project's web site on
http://www.pml.ac.uk/nematode including discussion of the proposed XML data
structure for storage of taxonomic information. CD's can also be ordered
from site's the homepage.
Martyn Atkins
Software Developer
Darwin Nematode Project
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
