---
title: "Legacy fuzzy name match service (Version 1 - flat format)"
method: GET
path: "/v1/species/match"
tags: ["Searching names"]
deprecated: true
---

# Legacy fuzzy name match service (Version 1 - flat format)

`GET /v1/species/match`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.gbif.org`
- URL: `https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match`
- Auth: none declared
- TypeScript: <https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api/docs/v1/species/match/get.ts> (a function with typed inputs; its response is checked against the schema)

> **Deprecated.**

Version 1 - Warning: this method will be removed and users are advised to migrate to the version 2 API v2/species/match.

Fuzzy matches scientific names against the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy with the optional classification provided. If a classification is provided and strict is not set to true, the default matching will also try to match against these if no direct match is found for the name parameter alone.

Additionally, a lookup may be performed by providing the usageKey which will short-circuit the name-based matching and ONLY use the given key, either finding the concept or returning no match.

## Query parameters

- `usageKey` string
- `taxonID` string
- `taxonConceptID` string
- `scientificNameID` string
- `name` string
- `scientificName` string
- `authorship` string
- `scientificNameAuthorship` string
- `rank` 'DOMAIN' | 'SUPERKINGDOM' | 'KINGDOM' | 'SUBKINGDOM' | 'INFRAKINGDOM' | 'SUPERPHYLUM' | 'PHYLUM' | 'SUBPHYLUM' | 'INFRAPHYLUM' | 'SUPERCLASS' | 'CLASS' | 'SUBCLASS' | 'INFRACLASS' | 'PARVCLASS' | 'SUPERLEGION' | 'LEGION' | 'SUBLEGION' | 'INFRALEGION' | 'SUPERCOHORT' | 'COHORT' | 'SUBCOHORT' | 'INFRACOHORT' | 'MAGNORDER' | 'SUPERORDER' | 'GRANDORDER' | 'ORDER' | 'SUBORDER' | 'INFRAORDER' | 'PARVORDER' | 'SUPERFAMILY' | 'FAMILY' | 'SUBFAMILY' | 'INFRAFAMILY' | 'SUPERTRIBE' | 'TRIBE' | 'SUBTRIBE' | 'INFRATRIBE' | 'SUPRAGENERIC_NAME' | 'GENUS' | 'SUBGENUS' | 'INFRAGENUS' | 'SECTION' | 'SUBSECTION' | 'SERIES' | 'SUBSERIES' | 'INFRAGENERIC_NAME' | 'SPECIES_AGGREGATE' | 'SPECIES' | 'INFRASPECIFIC_NAME' | 'GREX' | 'SUBSPECIES' | 'CULTIVAR_GROUP' | 'CONVARIETY' | 'INFRASUBSPECIFIC_NAME' | 'PROLES' | 'RACE' | 'NATIO' | 'ABERRATION' | 'MORPH' | 'VARIETY' | 'SUBVARIETY' | 'FORM' | 'SUBFORM' | 'PATHOVAR' | 'BIOVAR' | 'CHEMOVAR' | 'MORPHOVAR' | 'PHAGOVAR' | 'SEROVAR' | 'CHEMOFORM' | 'FORMA_SPECIALIS' | 'CULTIVAR' | 'STRAIN' | 'OTHER' | 'UNRANKED'
- `taxonRank` string
- `genericName` string
- `specificEpithet` string
- `infraspecificEpithet` string
- `exclude` integer[]
- `strict` boolean
- `verbose` boolean
- `kingdom` string
- `phylum` string
- `order` string
- `class` string
- `family` string
- `genus` string

## Response `200`

Name usage suggestions found

- object

## Changes

- **2026-11-10** `340d13cde148`: 6 info
  - added the new optional `query` request parameter `scientificName`
  - added the new optional `query` request parameter `scientificNameAuthorship`
  - added the new optional `query` request parameter `scientificNameID`
  - added the new optional `query` request parameter `taxonConceptID`
  - …2 more

[Operation history](https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api/changes/v1/species/match/get.md)

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api.md) - [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api/llms.txt) - [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api/revisions/340d13cde148?raw)