Preparation of an Interactive Key for Northern Gulf of Mexico Polychaete Taxonomy Employing the Delta/Intkey System

The seafloor subject to disturbance by outer continental oil and gas activity is home to a few thousand species. Surveys of the seafloor undertaken to make informed decisions about future development and monitoring undertaken to assure acceptable levels of impact from existing activity are heavily dependent upon sampling and correctly identifying a large fraction of that diverse fauna. Assuring correct and consistent identification of species is a difficult problem. The task requires a tremendous breadth of expertise. There is a decreasing pool of experts, and taxonomic data are not now handled and synthesized in a manner that facilitates identification. Resource management agencies such as the Minerals Management Service have made noteworthy efforts to improve taxonomic quality such as production of comprehensive faunal keys and maintainence of voucher collections. These efforts, however, have not overcome the ecological and taxonomic communities’ historical lack of a focused effort to improve identification.