Higher-rank names placed under a different parent in the Catalogue of Life

Source: IUCN Red List 2026-1 vs Catalogue of Life COL26.7 XR (2026-07-17) · 1,663 rows

The table below lists higher-rank names that the Catalogue of Life places under a genuinely different parent (a different order, class, or family), not just a different spelling of the same one. Only names within the same phylum are compared.

Why it matters

A different parent placement reflects a different higher classification between the two catalogues. Neither is necessarily wrong, but any grouping by order, class, or family will come out differently depending on which catalogue is followed.

Suggestion

Treat these as classification differences to be aware of rather than errors. Where a placement looks out of date, the CoL entry linked in each row shows the classification it currently uses.

The Catalogue of Life crosscheck

Every assessed name is checked against the Catalogue of Life; each difference found is listed on exactly one of the pages below. Pages are ordered by how likely a row is to need a change.

Page	Action	Names	What it lists
Names with a close Catalogue of Life match	Fix by hand	799	Not in CoL under this name; a near spelling is, in the same genus or with the same epithet.
Names not in the Catalogue of Life, but an IUCN synonym is	Fix by hand	134	Not in CoL under this name; one of the taxon's IUCN synonyms is there as a synonym.
Species and subspecies treated as synonyms in the Catalogue of Life	Decide policy	11,664	CoL treats the name as a synonym of an accepted name that IUCN does not list.
Higher-rank names treated as synonyms in the Catalogue of Life	Fix by hand	717	A genus, family, order, or class name that CoL records only as a synonym.
Parent taxon spelled differently in the Catalogue of Life	Fix by hand	94	Same parent taxon in both, spelled slightly differently.
Name pairs where IUCN and the Catalogue of Life differ on which name is accepted	No action	2,742	Both catalogues hold both names and disagree only on which is accepted.
Higher-rank names placed under a different parent in the Catalogue of Life this page	No action	1,663	CoL places the name under a different order, class, or family.
Appendix
Names not in the Catalogue of Life, but a Wikidata or Wikipedia name is	Fix by hand	23	Not in CoL under this name or an IUCN synonym; Wikidata or Wikipedia give a name CoL has.
Author names spelled differently	Fix by hand	9,343	Same name in both; the author is spelled slightly differently.
Names not in the Catalogue of Life under any known name	No action	722	Not in CoL under this name, a near spelling, or any other name known for the taxon.

By rank

Every row is in the CSV download.

Rank	Count
class	1
order	65
family	257
genus	1,340

Preview

IUCN name	Rank	Rank compared	IUCN placement	CoL placement	CoL entry	Group	IUCN taxa	Detail
PHAEOPHYCEAE	class	phylum	HETEROKONTOPHYTA	Ochrophyta	view	Algae: Brown algae	18	IUCN places this class in phylum 'HETEROKONTOPHYTA'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Ochrophyta'.
PERCIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	6197	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
CYPRINIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	4137	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
SILURIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	3641	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
GOBIIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	2348	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
CHARACIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	2152	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
CICHLIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	1739	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
CYPRINODONTIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	1334	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
ANGUILLIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	1062	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
PLEURONECTIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	914	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
OPHIDIIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	610	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
STOMIIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	560	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
CLUPEIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	510	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
TETRAODONTIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	480	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.
LOPHIIFORMES	order	class	ACTINOPTERYGII	Teleostei	view	Fish: Ray-finned fishes	427	IUCN places this order in class 'ACTINOPTERYGII'; Catalogue of Life places it in 'Teleostei'.

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