Why Fish? An Example of

Successful Usage of the Internet

Rainer FroeseLeibniz-Institute for Marine Sciences

Kiel, Germanyrfroese@ifm-geomar.de

Overview

• FishBase: All About Fish• Some Statistics• Some Science: What are Migratory Fish? • Discussion

FishBase: All About Fish

• FishBase Search Page >>• Species Summary Page >>• Guest Book >>• FishWatcher >> >> >>• Attach Your Web Site >>• Fish Forum >>

Some StatisticsFishBase Usage over Time

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2

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14

A 98 A 99 A 00 A 01 A 02 A 03 A 04

Years (August)

Hit

s (m

illio

ns)

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900

Use

r se

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(tho

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Some StatisticsInformation Downloaded from FishBase

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A 98 A 99 A 00 A 01 A 02 A 03 A 04

Years (August)

Ban

dwid

th (G

B)

Some StatisticsFishBase vs Internet Usage

Source for Internet growth: NUA Internet Services

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1/00 7/00 1/01 7/01 1/02 7/02 1/03 7/03

Jan. 2000 - Oct. 2003

Rel

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niqu

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sers

FishBase

Internet

Some StatisticsFishBase Web Users

Individuals

Private sector

Universities

Governments

NGOs

Museums

Int. Research Centres

Based on >1500 entries in the FishBase Guest Book

Some StatisticsFishBase Users by Continent

North America

Europe

Asia

South America

Africa

Australia

Oceania

Some Statistics

FishBase Web Usage by Topic

Common Names

Scientific NamesSpecies

Summaries

Photos

FishBase Book

Fish Quiz

Specialist Topics

Frequency of FishBase Hits by Topic

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Exotic species

Genetics

Ichthyology course

Ecology

Physiology

Population dynamics

Reproduction

Identification keys

Quiz

Quick identification

Trophic ecology

Fish collections

FishBase book

FishWatchers

FishForum

Eggs & larvae

Catalog of Fishes

Maps

References

Glossary

Scientific names

Country info

Photos

Summary information

Common names

Percent of total hits (October 2002)(1 % = 2000 hits)

Some Statistics

Where is the Science?85 ISI Citations, 3 in Nature, 2 in Science

Fisheries

Ecology

Parasitology

Conservation

GeneticsPalaeontology

Taxonomy

IT

June 2002

Some StatisticsFishBase Usage Compared with Internet Usage by

Country, in 2001

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0.001

0.01

0.1

1

10

100

0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100

Internet Users (% of all Users)

Fish

Bas

e Se

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of a

ll Se

ssio

ns)

USA

Qatar

Fr Polynesia

Brunei

Japan

China

South Korea

Russia

Taiwan

India

Lebanon

Venezuela

Some StatisticsFishBase Usage by Developing Countries

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10

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50

2000 2001 2002 2003

Years (July)

Visi

tor

sess

ions

(Tho

usan

ds)

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Perc

ent V

isito

r se

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nsPercent of all sessions

DC Sessions

Why Fish?

• Sufficient useful quality content• Common names & photos• Free, simple, intuitive access• Open, collaborative, Yes attitude• Alive, reacting and anticipating• Fast• Because Fish are beautiful

What are Migratory Fishes? (1)

Migration Type Fish Speciesoceanodromous 637amphidromous 320anadromous 171catadromous 69

potamodromous 528limnodromous 17

What are Migratory Fishes? (2)Class Type of Migration Species

Cephalaspidomorphi (lampreys) anadromous 12potamodromous 6

Holocephali (chimaeras) oceanodromous 2Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) amphidromous 25

oceanodromous 53potamodromous 7

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) oceanodromous 582amphidromous 295

anadromous 159catadromous 69

potamodromous 515limnodromous 17

What are Migratory Fishes? (3)

Used commercially 1,020 (59%)

Used in aquaculture 170 (10%)

Gamefish 373 (21%)

Dangerous to humans 122 (7%)

Threatened (Redlist 2000)

127 (7%)anadromous 24 (14%)

What are Migratory Fish (4)

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

Migratory Other

Migratory status

Tro

phic

leve

l

What are Migratory Fish? (5)

Resilience Migratory Others

Very low 73 (12%) 190 (10%)

Low 154 (25%) 862 (45%)

Medium 268 (44%) 611 (32%)

High 112 (19%) 241 (13%)

What are Migratory Fish (6)

1

10

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Mig Nonmig

Migratory status

Leng

th (

cm)

Questions?

Thank You