What counts as a source
Anything you state as a fact needs a source we can check, whichever page you are changing. A moderator reads every change before it appears on the website.
My own experience
EnoughKept twelve in a planted 60 cm tank since March 2024. They shoal tightly all day and the males only colour up above eight fish.
Not enoughMine are fine in a group.
Say how many, how long and what you saw, so a moderator can judge it.
A website I saw
Use this for a page you read online, such as an IUCN Red List assessment, a museum catalogue entry or a FishBase species page.
EnoughIUCN Red List assessment for Prionobrama filigera, at iucnredlist.org/species/49830585/160292830. It gives floodplain lakes and white-water rivers.
Not enoughThe IUCN site.
Give the address of the page itself, not the front page of the site.
A paper
Paste a DOI and we'll look up the rest, or type out the reference. Most papers print the DOI on the first page, in the form 10.11646/zootaxa.4694.4.1.
EnoughMarshall, B.G. et al. (2011) Water temperature differences in interfluvial palm swamp habitats of Paracheirodon axelrodi and P. simulans in the middle Rio Negro, Brazil, pp. 377–383. It records 24.6–35.2 °C in the wild habitats of P. simulans.
Not enoughThere's a paper on this.
Name the paper and the page, so a moderator can find the passage you mean.
A book, or something not online
A book, magazine or society journal needs no web address or DOI.
EnoughTappin, A.R. (2010) Rainbowfishes: their care and keeping in captivity. Its account of Pseudomugil tenellus gives 27–38 °C in the wild.
Not enoughIt's in a book somewhere.
Name the book and the page or the species account, so a moderator can find the passage you mean.
Something already on the page
The page already says it somewhere in its text. Copy the sentence.
EnoughThe behaviour section says males hold territory year-round, not only when breeding.
Not enoughIt says so above.
Say which section of the page it is in.
What happens next
A moderator accepts, sends back or declines each change you send. An accepted change goes on the page, and on a species, genus or family page any paper, book or website you named is added to its references. When a change is sent back, the moderator says what is missing so that you can fix it and send it again. You get one email once every change you sent has been decided.