On 24 June 2008, the World Register of Marine Species was launched by the Census of Marine Life. Once complete, it will provide the first definitive list of all known species in the world’s oceans. 

The Register is freely accessible online and includes descriptions of the species and photos. It will allow both the public and scientists to identify species they come across and easily recognise entirely new species. So far, the catalogue contains 122,000 species, about half the estimated 230,000 known species. It should be complete by 2010.