WIOMweb - West Indian Ocean Marine Web

An interactive marine species photo identification database for the Western Indian Ocean.

WIOMweb offers students, researchers and professional scientists a photographic reference guide to the marine and coastal species of southern Madagascar, and ultimately the West Indian Ocean.

We originally started work on WIOMweb as a way to document the diversity of species recorded at our scientific research site in the remote village of Andavadoaka, located along the southwestern coast of Madagascar. Prior to our arrival in Andavadoaka, there had been no data collected on the species living off the region’s coasts.

Currently, more than 1,500 species from across the region have been photographed, identified and placed in the WIOMweb database. It is estimated that more than 4,000 species will ultimately be uploaded into the database as additional information is gathered from fieldwork and other research institutions in the Western Indian Ocean.

WIOMweb allows visitors to navigate from kingdom to species levels with interactive links at each stage. Each species page includes an exact taxonomic breakdown, specific identification cues, preferred habitats and conservation status from the IUCN Red List. 

Although WIOMweb currently focuses on marine plants and animals from Madagascar, we are working with other research institutions to upload data on species across the entire Indian Ocean area.

WIOMweb is still under construction, but you can check out the test version by visiting www.wiomweb.org.