CBiCS is the principal marine classification system used in Victoria. CBiCS unifies historical data under one classification umbrella. The scheme encompasses aquatic setting, biogeography, substrate, water column, geoforms, biotopes and morphospecies.
This web tool provides facilities for exploring the classes within the eight components of the CBiCS classification scheme.
Seven of the components are represented in the scheme as hierarchies, reflecting natural hierarchies of habitat and biological features in nature. There are six levels in each of these hierarchies.
The classes in the CBiCS Descriptors Component can be explored by opening and selecting the nodes in the tree views on the left of each page. Details and descriptions of the selected class are provided on the right-hand side of the page.
Please note that the Descriptor Component classes, including for wave exposure, tidal streams, ecological state, etc., are represented in a tree-view for ease of discovery and selection. The tree structure for descriptors may not represent a natural hierarchy.