During the Cnidaria Editor Workshop (February 2024) a new attribute was proposed for inclusion into WoRMS/Aphia: photosymbiosis. While trying to fit this into the current attributes in WoRMS/Aphia, the data management team (DMT) noticed that the existing “feedingtype” attribute was a mixture of terms related to what organisms eat (e.g. carnivore), how they eat (e.g. predator), and how they interact with other organisms (e.g. parasitic). Thus, a clean-up of the “feedingtype” attribute was needed.

The DMT drafted a plan for cleaning up the “feedingtype” attribute, and this plan was presented during the WoRMS Steering Committee meeting in April 2025 (report). The DMT proposed to split the “feedingtype” attribute into three separate attributes: (1) Ecological interactions, (2) Trophic level, and (3) Feeding method. The terms in the existing “feedingtype” attribute were divided over the three new attributes, and several new terms were added.
This approach was endorsed by the WoRMS Steering Committee and has now been implemented into Aphia and WoRMS.

For all three attributes it is possible to document the life stage. For “ecological interactions” it is possible to document the host organism, and for “trophic level” and “feeding method” it is possible to document the food source.

You can find the terms and definitions used in these three new attributes at the link below.

Image credit: freepik