Sponges of the North East Atlantic - World Biodiversity Database CD-ROM Series

This metadata record has been created to describe a commercial CD product of the Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification. This CD has in no way been produced by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), and the metadata record is only intended as a reference for AAD employees.From the CD booklet:The CD-ROM volume Sponges of the North East Atlantic is a comprehensive guide to 337 shallow-water sponges occurring in the coastal waters of Western Europe between the low Arctic (northern Norway and Iceland) and Southern Portugal, limited to depths of about 200 m. Authors are the experienced spongologists Rob van Soest, Bernard Picton and Christine Morrow. The CD-ROM combines data from major regional sources (Tierwelt Nord- und Ostsee, Inventaire Marine de Roscoff, Inventario do Litoral Galego and the MCS Sponge Guide) making this a unique guide for all of Europe's west coast sponges.Sponges are sessile Metazoans with a low grade of organisation. Very few, if any, sponges have a constant form, colour and size. Macroscopic details are a very unreliable data set for identification, although experienced spongologists are usually able to recognise species on sight/touch/smell. Taxonomy and classification are based on very small details of the skeleton and thus for a reliable identification it is absolutely imperative to make microscope slide preparations of the skeleton and spicules.For a full treatment of preparation procedures see the Introduction module, topics 'Spicule preparations' and 'Thick sections'.The Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification (ETI) is a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) in operational relation with UNESCO, dedicated to the production of scientific and educational computer software for the preservation of knowledge concerning the worlds plants and animals. ETI is supported by The Netherlands Government, the University of Amsterdam, UNESCO, and other international organisations. It cooperates with major scientific institutes around the world.

本元数据记录用于描述分类鉴定专家中心（Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification）的一款商用CD产品。本CD绝非由澳大利亚南极分部（AAD）制作，本元数据记录仅作为供AAD内部员工参考的资料。
摘自该CD配套手册：
《东北大西洋海绵》CD-ROM光盘是一份综合参考指南，涵盖了分布于西欧近海水域的337种浅海海绵，其分布范围北至低北极地区（挪威北部与冰岛）、南至葡萄牙南部，栖息深度限定在约200米以内。本光盘由资深海绵分类学家罗布·范·索斯特（Rob van Soest）、伯纳德·皮克顿（Bernard Picton）与克里斯汀·莫罗（Christine Morrow）编撰。该CD-ROM整合了来自多个核心区域数据源的内容：《北海与波罗的海生物》（Tierwelt Nord- und Ostsee）、《罗斯科夫海洋名录》（Inventaire Marine de Roscoff）、《加利西亚海岸名录》（Inventario do Litoral Galego）以及《MCS海绵指南》（MCS Sponge Guide），使其成为覆盖全欧洲西海岸海绵物种的独特参考资料。
海绵为固着生活的后生动物（Metazoans），组织分化程度较低。几乎不存在形态、颜色与尺寸恒定的海绵物种。尽管资深海绵分类学家通常可通过目视、触感或嗅觉识别物种，但宏观形态特征用于物种鉴定时可靠性极低。海绵的分类学与系统分类依赖其骨骼的细微结构特征，因此若要实现可靠的物种鉴定，必须对骨骼与骨针（spicules）制作显微镜玻片标本。关于标本制备流程的完整说明，请参阅介绍模块中的“骨针制备”与“厚切片”章节。
分类鉴定专家中心（Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification，ETI）是与联合国教育、科学及文化组织（UNESCO）开展业务合作的非政府组织（Non-governmental Organisation，NGO），致力于开发科学与教育类计算机软件，以保存全球动植物相关知识。ETI由荷兰政府、阿姆斯特丹大学、UNESCO及其他国际组织资助，并与全球多家核心科研机构保持合作。