A large project such as that which led to FishBase generates enough credit to share among project collaborators, and FishBase was designed to make explicit the role played by each collaborator. LarvalBase is an integrated part of FishBase, thus the same is true for the Larvalbase project. 

 References to each work from which information was extracted are given in the database, and the names of collaborators are attached to all the records they provided or corrected.

Moreover, three explicit procedures exists for Fish- and LarvalBase to give credit to collaborators:

• colleagues who supply data (in form of reprints, reports, unpublished theses, etc., or as LarvalBase data entry forms) are listed (via their collaborator number) as ‘Entered:’ on the ‘stamp’ in the Status section of the appropriate table. Also, their name appears in the  Acknowledgments section of each Larvalbase species synopsis;
  

• colleagues who verify FishBase products (e.g., Synopses, country lists, common names) appear through their number as ‘Checked:’ on the stamp of the appropriate tables, and their name also appears on the last page of FishBase synopses;
  

• colleagues who supply a substantial database for distribution through FishBase have their own tables (compare to such tables as the GENERA table for Eschmeyer’s Catalog of fishes (1998), INTRODUCTIONS table for Welcomme (1988), or LARVDYN table for Houde and Zastrow (1993) in FishBase.

Furthermore, all collaborators’ areas of expertise, affiliations, contact address and photo (if supplied) are entered in a COLLABORATORS table, enabling LarvalBase users to contact directly the experts behind tables and their entries.

We believe that colleagues who opt to collaborate with us, i.e., opt to see some of their work incorporated into LarvalBase, benefit because:

• their published work will reach more people;
  

• their work will become integrated into a larger whole, and thus becomes easier to assimilate, while remaining theirs in terms of scientific credit.

(B) Guidelines for Contributions

(1) Data 

Data are mainly presented in a structured form, however in some cases a free textform is applied. For each fish species which can be reared in captivity, LarvalBase will present a "MiniEssay", which describes in free text form a comprehensive rearing protocol, based on experts knowledge. Anybody who is experienced in rearing fresh water or marine fish species is welcome to write such an essay for the interested community. Please check an example which is given at this site for Chanos chanos.  Any suggestion e.g. concerning the structure of forms and tables or the addition of more informations are welcome.

(2) Photos and Images 

Photos and drawings of larval fish are a substantial part of LarvalBase. Fish larvae change their appearance and their features very quickly throughout their early life stages.  Images will be very helpful in identification and evaluation of the different live stages. Thus, series of drawings or photos of different life stages for a certain species are appreciated. 

Drawings can be submitted as good (hard)copies or as grey scans, with a resolution of 300 pixels. Photos are welcome as slides, paper-copies or as true color scans with a resolution of 300 pixels. We will do the final "make up" for the database. Check the Larvalbase Photo Archieve at this site which shows examples for larval photos. Examples for larval drawings can be checked at the site "Search LarvalBase".

Please contact us c/o the LarvalBase Project, Leipniz-Institut for Marine Science, Fisheries Department, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany, or mail to the project leader Bernd Ueberschaer if you wish to become one of our collaborators.