Marine Biology Reference Resources

This guide selectively lists print and Internet reference resources in marine biology. Dictionaries & Encyclopedias Treatises and Reviews Bibliographies Handbooks & Manuals Taxonomic and Biodiversity Databases Internet Subject Directories/Portals/Gateways See also the two related research guides on Fisheries and Oceanography. The Oceanography guide in particular includes broader works that include information on marine biology, e.g. the Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences. There are two excellent starting places for identifying the key literature of a particular specialty in marine biology: MBREF: A Reference Source For Marine Biology Student Research (Levinton) Includes references on over 40 topics. Some topics include a list of key books and papers, classic papers and recent papers; other topics provide access to extensive web-accessible bibliographies on the specific subject. CERF-Lit: Coastal and Estuarine Science Reference Series (Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation) Includes over 30 expertly-prepared guides in estuarine and coastal ocean science that list summary papers, classic papers, and recent contributions to help direct students, teachers, and new researchers to key literature on the topic.

© Joseph Dougherty, M.D./ecology.org

As with other scientific areas most marine biology research is published in journals. For lists of marine biology journals see Literature of Oceanography: Journals. Databases that index the marine biology literature are listed in Articles and Databases: Oceanography.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

• Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences (Steele, Turekian and Thorpe) 2001 (Ref GC 9 E58 2001) Six-volume set contains over 400 articles which can be used as background information on a topic and provide lists of key references.
• Encyclopedia of Tide Pools and Rocky Shores (Denny and Gaines) 2007 (QH 541.5 S35 E53 2007) Includes over 200 articles.
• Glossary (State of the Bay: A Characterization of the Galveston Bay Ecosystem) Includes terms and definitions related to marine ecology.
• Glossary of Marine Biology - Derived from Marine Biology: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology by Jeffrey Levinton.

Treatises, Reviews, & Comprehensive Databases

• The HSU Library has three annually issued publications that contain collections of review papers in marine biology.
  • Advances in Marine Biology (QH 91 A1 A22)
  • Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review (GC 1 O32)
  • Progress in Phycological Research (QK 564 P76)
• Biology of Crustacea (Bliss) 1982-1986 (QL 435 B48) 10 volumes
• Ecological Characterization of the Central & Northern California Coastal Region (Jones & Stokes Associates) 1981 (FWS/OBS-80/46.2) (QH 105 C2 E36 1981 Hum Co Coll) Five volume work in eight parts. Prepared for the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management as a compilation and synthesis of existing information that can be used to evaluate potential ecological consequences of urban, industrial and commercial development in the area. The bibliography is intended to be a guide to additional environmental information. The five volumes cover:
  Vol. 1: Basic Ecological Concepts
  Vol. 2.1: Regional Characterization
  Vol. 2.2: Species - contains species accounts for 200 plant and animal species that live within the central and northern California coastal region.
  Vol. 3.1: Habitats - contains ecological characterizations of 45 marine, estuarine, riverine, lacustrine (lakes), palustrine (ponds) and terrestrial habitats.
  Vol. 3.2: Community Composition Lists - contains extensive listings of species for each habitat type.
  Vol. 4: Watersheds and Basins - contains site specific information on the physical, biological, and cultural resources of 22 watersheds, e.g., Mad River Watershed unit, and five ocean basins.
  Vol. 5: Data Source Appendix
• Marine Ecology: A Comprehensive Integrated Treatise on Life in the Oceans and Coastal Waters (Kinne) 1970-1984 (5 vols. in 13 parts) (QH 541.5 S3 K5)
• Mollusca (Wilbur) 1983-1988) (QL402 M57 1983) 12 volume set.
• Reproduction of Marine Invertebrates (Giese and Pearse) 1974 - (QP 251 G437) 7 volumes completed to date
• Summary of Knowledge of the Central and Northern California Coastal Zone and Offshore Areas (Winzler & Kelly) 1977 (4 vols. in 7 parts) (ref GB 458.8 W56) Extensive survey of the knowledge of this area up through 1974 compiled for the Bureau of Land Management as background information for potential OCS oil leasing. Contains an 800-page bibliography.
• Treatise on Marine Ecology and Paleoecology (Hedgpeth) 1957 (Geological Society of America Memoir #67) (QE 1 G29m #67) The first major treatise on marine ecology.

Bibliographies

• AlgaeBase Literature (Guiry and Dhonncha) Includes over 43,000 references on algae with a bias toward macroalgae.
• Bibliographia Nudibranchia (McDonald) Attempts to list all publications on nudibranchs.
• Bibliography of Opisthobranchia (Steve Long) Includes 14,000 citations on sea slugs.
• Bibliography to the World List of Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial Isopod Crustaceans (Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Systematic Biology: Invertebrate Zoology) Emphasis is on taxonomic works.
• Cephalopod Bibliography (Smithsonian Institution Research Information System) Includes books, journal articles and other publications about Recent cephalopods and cephalopod related subjects (predators, prey, etc.).
• CephBase Reference Database Contains over 6,000 references on cephalopods.
• CyBib: Cyanobacteria Bibliography (Schneegurt) Includes 25,000 references on cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and the genus Prochlorons
• Database on Amphipod Literature (Vader - University of Tromso) Alphabetical list by author.
• Hexacorallians of the World (Fautin) Compilation of publications concerning taxonomy, nomenclature, and geographic distribution of extant hexacorallians. 
• Marine Mammals Bibliography (Smithsonian Institution Research Information System) Includes over 4,500 references to publications (books, journal articles, etc.) about marine mammals and related subjects (fisheries, food, etc.).
• References on Brachiopods (BrachNet)
• References on Phoronida (Phoronida)
• SeaMounts Literature (SeaMounts Online)
• Tunicate Bibliography (Iazzetti, Naples University, Department of Genetics, General and Molecular Biology) Updated twice a year by Ascidian News.
• World of Copepods: Bibliography of All Known Copepod and Branchiura Literature (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Department of Systematic Biology: Invertebrate Zoology) Database of 39,000 references containing all known copepod literature from 1600 A.D. to the present.

Handbooks & Manuals

• Experimental Marine Biology (Mariscal) 1974 (QH 91 M26)
• ICES Zooplankton Methodology Manual (Harris) 2000 (QL 123 I2 2000)
• Manual of Methods in Aquatic Environmental Research, Parts 1-11 (Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) (FAO Fisheries Technical Paper) (SH 1 F203)
• Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos (Holme & McIntyre) 2005 (QH 91.57 D7 M47)
• Methods in Marine Zooplankton Ecology (Omori & Ikeda) 1984 (QL 123 O4613 1984)
• Monitoring Rocky Shores (Murry, Ambrose and Dethier) 2006 (QH 541.5 S35 M87)
• Pelagic Ecology Methodology (Subba Rao) 2002 (QK 934 P44 2002)
• The Shore Environment (Price, Irvine and Farnham) 1980 (QH 541.5 S35 S52) Vol 1 Methods; Vol 2 Ecosystems

Taxonomic and Biodiversity Databases

• AlgaeBase Database of information on algae that includes terrestrial, marine and freshwater organisms.
• Census of Marine Life (CoML) Purpose is to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life.
• Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Provides global geo-referenced information on marine species, with online tools for visualizing relationships among species and their environment.
• WoRMS: World Register of Marine Species Purpose is to provide the most authoritative list of names of all marine species. Contributes to the Catalogue of Life, the Encyclopedia of Life, and serves as the taxonomic backbone of the Ocean Biogeograpihc Information System. Integrates global, regional and thematic species lists.

Internet Subject Directories/Portals/Gateways

• Algal Web Links (Phycological Society of America)
• Amphipod Homepage (d'Acoz)
• Biogeoinformatics of Hexacorals (Fautin)
• Biology Browser (BIOSIS) Includes links by taxonomic group, subject and geography
• BrachNet (Emig and Pardo) Guide to resources on brachiopods.
• Bryozoa Home Page: Recent and Fossil Bryozoa (Bock)
• CephBase (Wood) Guide to resources on all living cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautilus).
• Cnidaria Home Page (Steele-University of California, Irvine)
• Copepod Web Portal (University of L'Aquila)
• Crustacean-Related Resources on the Web (Crustacean Society)
• Diatom Home Page (Sweets - Indiana University Biology Department)
• Marine Biology Web (Levinton)
• MarineBio (MarineBio.com)
• Phoronid@ (Emig)
• Plankton*Net
• Radiolaria.org
• Sea Slug Forum (Australian Museum)
• Seaweed Site (Guiry - National University of Ireland-Galway)
• Slug Site (Miller) Devoted to the study of Opisthobranch Molluscs.
• World of Copepods (Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History)