CAAB version history

CAAB predecessor "FISHLIST": in use late 1970s-1990 approx.

FISHLIST codes were published in various faunal guides emanating from the Division during the 1980s such as Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia (K. Sainsbury and others, 1984) and Field Guide to Trawl Fish from Temperate Waters of Australia (J. May & J.G. Maxwell, revised ed. 1986). For the most part, former FISHLIST codes for fish survive in CAAB, with the prefix "37" added as a category code. FISHLIST codes for non-fish species (chiefly invertebrates of commercial or research interest) were ported to CAAB with the prefix "00" added, pending recoding in a systematic manner. These taxa have subsequently had new codes issued for CAAB version 2.

CAAB v1: 1992-August 1999

As a major part of the effort involved in compiling CAAB v.1, all the scientific names for fish species were quality controlled, new taxa added where necessary, and duplicate, doubtful or incorrect species deleted or corrected.

The preliminary database specification and structure for CAAB v.1 were described in Yearsley et al. 1997 (CSIRO Marine Laboratories Report no. 224). This initial version of CAAB included fields for the following:

• taxon code (made up from elements category code, family code, species number)
• genus name
• specific name
• name qualifier
• authority
• common name
• family scientific name
• family common name

CAAB v.1 content (fishes section, category 37: 4,300 codes approx.) was published as appendix D to the above report (taxon code, scientific names and authorities only). All scientific name and authority information was stated as current to December 1994.

Interim (category 00) codes (ex FISHLIST) for c. 60 selected non-finfish species were included in Appendix E (commercial species list) along with recommended marketing names (as per 1995 list in "Marketing Names for Fish and Seafood in Australia"); others were held on the database for research access only.

Data access was by Oracle Forms interface, made available to selected users on a client/server basis.

Printed and/or electronic versions of the list were distributed on request to users around Australia and overseas.

All CAAB version 1 codes prefixed "37" (i.e., the fish section of CAAB) as at August 1999 have been ported to CAAB version 2, where they continue to be maintained as necessary by relevant taxonomic specialists. Interim (category 00) codes from CAAB v.1 have also been passed to CAAB v2 but are flagged as obsolete codes. The majority (90%) of these "00" taxa (i.e., various species of invertebrates) now have replacement codes allocated according to a new, systematic treatment in CAAB v.2.

CAAB v2.0: Preliminary release September 1999, stable version February 2000

• Modified database structure, to handle additional data elements and simplify tracking of changes to records (previously multiple records per taxon, now a single one)

• New data fields added in the following areas:
  • (taxon code): previous codes list, superseded by (if relevant), parent codes, child codes

  • (scientific name): subgenus, subspecies, variety, informal sci. name, recent synonyms

  • (common name): indexable form (e.g. "Tuna - southern bluefin"), other common names (list), marketing name, organism type (for use where no common name exists)

  • WWW-viewable notes fields added for each of the above

  • on-line links enabled (photo, map, plus up to 3 additional links per species)

  • cross references to codes from other systems e.g. ITIS code, ABRS code, etc.

  • new flags to indicate the reason that the taxon is on the list (e.g. is an Australian species or included on the list for other reason), or is to be included on the commercial species list

  • various other new fields for database administration purposes and research use.

• New web-based application written for anyone to query the CAAB database and retrieve allowed information. Querying is possible using scientific name (whole or part), common name (whole or part), taxon code (whole or part), synonyms, previous codes, etc. Automatic cross links to all related taxa set up e.g. parent or child taxa, other members of same family, etc. Additional part of the application written to allow data entry, update and administration via the web to suitable authorised persons

• Major category codes list modified to allow for more extensive treatment of non-fish groups

• Codes added for all marine vertebrates in Australian waters (mammals, reptiles, birds) in accordance with ABRS lists and others, also marine angiosperms (seagrasses and mangroves)

• Common names added for all fish families, where not previously present

• Common name content of CAAB released publicly for first time (please note that many of these are not yet quality controlled, i.e. are still in interim/partially complete status in this version of CAAB, but may still be of value to users for searching)

• Marketing names for all commercially fished taxa added in accordance with "Australian Seafood Handbook" (G. Yearsley and others, 1999)

• Author name/s separated from date in authority field, for conformance with "Species 2000" recommended format

• Parent:child relations formalised for all relevant taxa in the database

• "Previous codes" and "superseded by" codes fields all populated as needed, with automated links via web pages set up

• Formal "xx xxx000" codes for family groupings set up in the database, with associated information as needed (previously these codes were used for data storage but not actually held in the CAAB system)

• Interim (category 00) codes for invertebrates in CAAB v1 (old "FISHLIST" codes) ported to CAAB v2 with new, fully systematic codes allocated

• System devised for handling informally designated taxa - sp. 1's, sp. 2's etc. of different projects (new "99" category)

• Cross-links to other systems via ITIS, etc, beginning to be implemented (for c. 20% of taxa to date)

• Facility created to export CAAB data to other applications in a structured manner on demand (contact Tony Rees if you require access to this feature)

• Automated cross-links to FishBase database set up for all fish taxa

• Query logging set in place to track CAAB usage patterns, nature of queries, etc.

Future activities

Taxa of invertebrates will be continuously added to this version of CAAB as resources are available. Scientific/common names for existing entries are subject to revision as new information comes to hand. Some fishes not previously on the CAAB list (not occurring within the Australian Fishing Zone but present in international waters of interest to Australia) for which codes are required will also be added in the near future.