---
title: "Name usage descriptions by id"
method: GET
path: "/v1/species/{usageKey}/descriptions"
tags: ["Species"]
---

# Name usage descriptions by id

`GET /v1/species/{usageKey}/descriptions`

Retrieves all descriptions for a name usage.

## Path parameters

- `usageKey` integer, required

## Query parameters

- `limit` integer
- `offset` integer

## Response `200`

Name usage descriptions found

- PagingResponseDescription
  - `offset` integer — The offset of the results within all the search results. Subsequent pages can be retrieved by using `offset + count` as the new offset.
  - `limit` integer — The limit used. Note the limit returned may be lower than the limit requested.
  - `endOfRecords` boolean — True if this page of search results is the final page.
  - `count` integer — The total number of records returned by the search.
  - `results` Description[] — Search results.
    - `key` integer — A unique GBIF identifier for the description. This key is used in the table of contents to retrieve the detailed description.
    - `taxonKey` integer — The name usage “taxon“ key to which this species profile belongs.
    - `type` string — The type used to categorize paragraphs of a taxon description. See the [Description Type vocabulary](http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/descriptionType).
    - `language` 'abk' | 'aar' | 'afr' | 'aka' | 'sqi' | 'amh' | 'ara' | 'arg' | 'hye' | 'asm' | 'ava' | 'ave' | 'aym' | 'aze' | 'bam' | 'bak' | 'eus' | 'bel' | 'ben' | 'bih' | 'bis' | 'bos' | 'bre' | 'bul' | 'mya' | 'cat' | 'cha' | 'che' | 'zho' | 'chu' | 'chv' | 'cor' | 'cos' | 'cre' | 'hrv' | 'ces' | 'dan' | 'div' | 'nld' | 'dzo' | 'eng' | 'epo' | 'est' | 'ewe' | 'fao' | 'fij' | 'fin' | 'fra' | 'fry' | 'ful' | 'glg' | 'lug' | 'kat' | 'deu' | 'ell' | 'kal' | 'grn' | 'guj' | 'hat' | 'hau' | 'heb' | 'her' | 'hin' | 'hmo' | 'hun' | 'isl' | 'ido' | 'ibo' | 'ind' | 'ina' | 'ile' | 'iku' | 'ipk' | 'gle' | 'ita' | 'jpn' | 'jav' | 'kan' | 'kau' | 'kas' | 'kaz' | 'khm' | 'kik' | 'kin' | 'kir' | 'kom' | 'kon' | 'kor' | 'kur' | 'kua' | 'lao' | 'lat' | 'lav' | 'lim' | 'lin' | 'lit' | 'lub' | 'ltz' | 'mkd' | 'mlg' | 'msa' | 'mal' | 'mlt' | 'glv' | 'mri' | 'mar' | 'mah' | 'mol' | 'mon' | 'nau' | 'nav' | 'ndo' | 'nep' | 'nde' | 'sme' | 'nob' | 'nno' | 'nor' | 'nya' | 'oci' | 'oji' | 'ori' | 'orm' | 'oss' | 'pli' | 'pan' | 'fas' | 'pol' | 'por' | 'pus' | 'que' | 'roh' | 'ron' | 'run' | 'rus' | 'smo' | 'sag' | 'san' | 'srd' | 'gla' | 'srp' | 'sna' | 'iii' | 'snd' | 'sin' | 'slk' | 'slv' | 'som' | 'nbl' | 'sot' | 'spa' | 'sun' | 'swa' | 'ssw' | 'swe' | 'tgl' | 'tah' | 'tgk' | 'tam' | 'tat' | 'tel' | 'tha' | 'bod' | 'tir' | 'ton' | 'tso' | 'tsn' | 'tur' | 'tuk' | 'twi' | 'uig' | 'ukr' | 'urd' | 'uzb' | 'ven' | 'vie' | 'vol' | 'wln' | 'cym' | 'wol' | 'xho' | 'yid' | 'yor' | 'zha' | 'zul' | '' — ISO 639-1 language code used for the description.
    - `description` string — Any descriptive, free text matching the category given as dc:type. The text should be either plain text or HTML.
    - `source` string — Bibliographic citation referencing a source for the description.
    - `sourceTaxonKey` integer — The name usage key of the taxon in the checklist including this description.
    - `creator` string — The author(s) of the textual information provided for a description.
    - `contributor` string — An entity responsible for making contributions to the textual information provided for a description.
    - `license` string — Official permission to do something with the resource.

## Other responses

- `400` — Invalid query
- `404` — Name usage not found

---

[API](https://skmtc.net/gbif/apis/species-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.net/gbif/apis/species-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-staging.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/gbif/species-api/versions/156fd5bac927/schema)