Technical guides and work plans for best practices in creating species checklists (e.g., GBIF 2011) are available from the GBIF online resource center (http://www.gbif.org/orc/). These reports explain how to make best use of the dataset standard using Darwin Core term s, presenting and publishing checklists under the framework of Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), and by using the Integrated Publishing Tool (IPT). The present document covers the more general aspects regarding checklists for marine regions. It outlines the steps required to compile distribution notes, to set up a register, and to produce a checklist, but also describes some of stumbling blocks that one might encounter along the way and offers suggestions on how to handle these issues