Massive reclassification of corals... Curatorial help needed

General
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Hi friends,

So Octocorallia has recently undergone a complete reclassification, such that most of the existing higher-level taxonomy for this group is now outdated. There are DOZENS of new families, along with a couple new suborders.

This is not a small group. Included amongst these are all of the soft corals, gorgonians, sea pens, and a few other odds and ends, totaling several thousand species.

I imagine this will be a challenge to incorporate into iNaturalist. There are going to be MANY taxon swaps and atlased changes that need to occur, and I’m sure lots of observations will get stuck in taxonomic limbo sorting this all out. As the leading identifier of this group, I’m seeking some dedicated curators to help out with this project.

See this flag for more info.

Cheers.

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This sounds like a nightmare to deal with.

Sometimes I think we should just stick with established common names as they (ironically) are often more stable than binomials.

That branch of biology is well out of my wheelhouse, so all I can do is wish you good luck.

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Closing to focus the discussion in one place as we use flag space to discuss specific taxonomic issues on iNaturalist (see link above).