# Species and Biodiversity - Species Search

> Species and Biodiversity - Species Search is a paid API for AI agents from biodiversity.x402tookit.com, paid per call via x402, $0.02/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-29).

Search for species by common or scientific name and return accepted taxonomic matches with classification and common names.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://biodiversity.x402tookit.com/species-search?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.02/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-29
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/species-and-biodiversity-species-search-0809fbe5
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_N6QlxL4CA8tOFHU2c0BcV

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability species-and-biodiversity-species-search-0809fbe5
```

Example prompt: Search the biodiversity database for 'monarch butterfly' and give me its accepted scientific name, kingdom, class, and family — show up to 5 results.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to resolve a common or partial species name into its accepted taxonomic record, including kingdom, class, and family. Prefer this over the name-resolution endpoint when you want to discover multiple candidate matches rather than resolve a single known name. Use before fetching a full species profile when you don't yet have a confirmed taxon key.

## Known failure modes

- No species found for highly ambiguous or misspelled queries — returns empty results array
- Limit parameter out of range (must be 1–15) may return validation error
- Degraded mode flag set to true if upstream GBIF data source is partially unavailable
- Very common words or abbreviations may return unrelated organisms

## How this service works

Search species by common or scientific name; returns accepted species with taxonomy and common name.

## Output

Returns a list of accepted species matching the query, each with taxon key, canonical name, scientific name, common name, and taxonomic ranks (kingdom, class, family). Also includes total match count, source attribution, and a summary string.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "q"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "q": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Name to search, e.g. jaguar or monarch butterfly"
      },
      "limit": {
       "type": "integer",
       "description": "Results 1 to 15 (default 8)"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
      "asOf": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "query": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "source": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "reasons": {
       "type": [
        "array",
        "null"
       ],
       "items": {
        "type": "string"
       }
      },
      "results": {
       "type": [
        "array",
        "null"
       ],
       "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
         "class": {
          "type": [
           "null",
           "string"
          ]
         },
         "family": {
          "type": [
           "null",
           "string"
          ]
         },
         "kingdom": {
          "type": [
           "null",
           "string"
          ]
         },
         "taxonKey": {
          "type": [
           "null",
           "number"
          ]
         },
         "commonName": {},
         "canonicalName": {
          "type": [
           "null",
           "string"
          ]
         },
         "scientificName": {
          "type": [
           "null",
           "string"
          ]
         }
        }
       }
      },
      "summary": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "verdict": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "degraded": {
       "type": [
        "boolean",
        "null"
       ]
      },
      "sourceUrl": {
       "type": [
        "null",
 
… (truncated)
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/species-and-biodiversity-species-search-0809fbe5/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from biodiversity.x402tookit.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/biodiversity.x402tookit.com/llms.txt)