Advances in the understanding of many fundamental biological processes are hampered by their inaccessibility to experimentation in traditional animal model species, ethical considerations concerning research on vertebrates and particularly mammals, and incomplete linkage to data analysis pipelines, data integration and predictive models. The advent of high-volume low-cost ‘omics approaches, along with major improvements in imaging and functional genomics technologies, and a vast increase in computer power, has opened a potential goldmine of novel animal models covering the vast range of marine biodiversity across all the animal phyla. With this database we aim for a complementary set of selected marine metazoan models for developmental and cell biology. Marine species have long proved powerful models for understanding many cellular phenomena including the gene regulatory networks underlying cellular and developmental transitions, fertilisation, cell division, differentiation, stem cell biology, morphogenesis, regeneration, ageing and physiological responses. Promotion of invertebrate marine models empowered with computational analysis and predictions will make a significant impact in reducing the use of vertebrates and in particular mammals in biomedical research.