Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists

What Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists does

Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists (SCAMIT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit scientific society founded in 1982 to promote the study of marine invertebrate taxonomy in Southern California and to develop a regionally standardized taxonomy. It serves professional taxonomists, marine biologists, environmental consultants, and academic researchers — primarily those supporting wastewater and environmental monitoring programs across the Southern California Bight. The organization operates as an entirely volunteer entity with no employees; its activities are conducted by members drawn from government agencies, museums, and academia.

SCAMIT's core offerings are knowledge products rather than software. The flagship is the SCAMIT List, a comprehensive taxonomic listing of soft-bottom macroinvertebrates from Southern California Bight infaunal monitoring programs, first published in 1994 and now in its 15th Edition (June 2026) as a searchable PDF. Complementary products include the Taxonomic Toolbox (an online repository of voucher sheets, identification keys, and comparative species documents organized by biological taxonomy), the Taxonomic Database Tool (a draft web-based database hosted at SCCWRP), and a monthly newsletter (Vol. 43). The organization also runs monthly taxonomic workshops at rotating host locations, an Annual All-Members Meeting, and a Taxonomic Publication Grants program supporting member research.

Revenue is generated through annual membership dues ($20 individual, $65 institutional), tax-deductible donations, and indirect financial support from outside agencies that allow employee participation in SCAMIT work as part of their job duties. Physical voucher specimen and literature collections are housed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Distribution is primarily regional (Southern California), with members across the U.S. and internationally accessing content via the website and newsletter.

Name

Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists

Legal name

Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists

Website

https://www.scamit.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SCAMIT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit scientific society founded in 1982 that develops and publishes standardized marine invertebrate taxonomy for Southern California environmental monitoring programs, serving taxonomists, agencies, and academic researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Invertebrate Taxonomic Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAGAE

Marine & Freshwater Conservation

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Environmental & Conservation Organizations

Keywords

• Marine invertebrate taxonomy
• Species identification keys
• Benthic invertebrate surveys
• Taxonomic publications
• Scientific workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues that partially offset costs of newsletter production, website costs, publication support grants, and stipends for out-of-area guest speakers. Individual membership is $20/year via check or $20.91/year via PayPal. Institutional membership is $65/year via check or $66.82/year via PayPal.
2. Donations: Tax-deductible donations from the public and supporting organizations. SCAMIT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations help support the mission of developing regionally standardized taxonomy.
3. External Agency Support: Financial support from outside agencies partially offsets organizational costs. Additionally, agencies support SCAMIT by allowing officer employees to conduct SCAMIT business as part of their work.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

SCAMIT is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that develops and maintains regionally standardized taxonomy for marine invertebrates in Southern California. Its core deliverables include the SCAMIT Species List (currently in its 15th Edition), the Taxonomic Toolbox of identification keys and voucher sheets, a web-based Taxonomic Database Tool, monthly newsletters, taxonomic workshops, and publication grant support.

Product overview

SCAMIT offers a suite of taxonomic resources for marine invertebrate identification in Southern California. The core offerings consist of the SCAMIT List (standardized species listings in PDF format, currently in its 15th Edition), the Taxonomic Toolbox (an online repository of voucher sheets and identification keys organized by biological taxonomy), and the Taxonomic Database Tool (a web-based database at SCCWRP). These are supplemented by regular Newsletter publications documenting workshops and proceedings, a Taxonomic Publication Grants program supporting member research, and monthly meetings/workshops featuring expert presentations on marine invertebrate systematics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SCAMIT List A comprehensive searchable PDF taxonomic listing of marine invertebrates from the Southern California Bight, providing standardized taxonomy for regional environmental monitoring programs.
• Taxonomic Toolbox

Quantifiable outcome

• Developed comprehensive Taxonomic Listing of Soft Bottom Macroinvertebrates first published in 1994 and updated through 15 editions
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Southwest Association of Freshwater Invertebrate Taxonomists (SAFIT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCAMIT has begun exploring cooperation with SAFIT, a related organization. The two organizations have jointly sponsored two taxonomic workshops on fauna of common interest (hydrobiid snails and estuarine crustaceans). Plans exist to continue collaborative interaction with other topics in the future.
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (LACMNH)coreOthersLACMNH provides physical space for SCAMIT to maintain its voucher specimen and literature collections. This in-kind support is essential to the organization's operations.
• Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (LACSD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLACSD is a primary host location for SCAMIT monthly meetings. Agency employees conduct SCAMIT business as part of their work duties, and LACSD supports taxonomic workshops and grants.
• Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOCSD is a host location for SCAMIT monthly meetings and workshops. Agency employees participate in SCAMIT activities as part of their work.
• Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCCWRP hosts the SCAMIT Annual All-Members Meeting and provides infrastructure for the SCAMIT Taxonomic Database Tool. Agency scientists contribute to SCAMIT taxonomic listings and workshops.
• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHMLAC hosts SCAMIT meetings and provides guest speakers for taxonomic presentations. Museum staff participate as contributing taxonomists in SCAMIT publications.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Southwest Association of Freshwater Invertebrate Taxonomists (SAFIT): SAFIT is the freshwater analogue and existing SCAMIT partner. Both are volunteer-run nonprofit scientific societies that standardize invertebrate taxonomy for environmental monitoring in the U.S. Southwest, serving overlapping agency and academic members with similar workshop, voucher, and publication models.

Broad incumbents

• North American Benthological Society (Society for Freshwater Science): Society for Freshwater Science is the broader professional society covering benthic invertebrate science, including taxonomy. Comparable to SCAMIT in mission (advancing benthic taxonomy) but operating at continental scale with a paid organizational structure and formal journals.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science: NOAA's coastal science programs fund and conduct benthic invertebrate monitoring nationally and set standards that regional taxonomic efforts like SCAMIT must interoperate with. Comparable as a marine environmental science authority but at federal scale.
• Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom: The MBA is a long-standing scientific society and learned body advancing marine biology, including taxonomy. Comparable to SCAMIT in mission and community-driven model, but operates nationally in the UK with paid staff and significant historical archives.
• Estuarine Research Federation (ERF / Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation): CERF is a broader professional society covering estuarine and coastal research, including benthic ecology and taxonomy. Comparable to SCAMIT in serving the marine environmental science community with conferences and publications, but at national/international scale.

Regional players

• Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP): SCCWRP is a regional research commission that hosts SCAMIT's annual meeting and provides the infrastructure for SCAMIT's Taxonomic Database Tool. It conducts marine benthic monitoring in the same Southern California Bight and is both a partner and a partial substitute provider of taxonomic and monitoring services.

Others

• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC): NHMLAC provides physical space for SCAMIT's voucher collections and hosts SCAMIT meetings, with museum scientists contributing as volunteer taxonomists. Comparable as a marine invertebrate taxonomy resource hub, though its primary mission is museum collections and exhibits rather than monitoring standardization.

Emerging players

• Cape Fear River Watch / regional environmental monitoring NGOs: Regional water-quality and benthic monitoring NGOs across U.S. coasts play a role analogous to SCAMIT at smaller scale — convening volunteer scientists to standardize local environmental data. Comparable community-led taxonomy/monitoring model, though most are not dedicated to invertebrate taxonomy specifically.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southern-california-association-of-marine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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