The female D. medinensis worm is a long white worm that can reach over a meter in length and a thickness between 1-2 mm. The male is significantly smaller, only a few centimeters in length, and dies soon after copulation. During the mating phase, both the male and female are approximate in size. Larval Dracundulus medinensis are free living, microscopic in size, and resembles free living nematodes. The female worm is covered in three layers of epicuticle and one thick layer of cuticle. Adult female worms have intestines but the organs are thought to be nonfunctional. In the larval worm, the anterior portion of the intestines can store food. In adult females, the majority of the body cavity is occupied by the uterus.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Dracunculus medinensis has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens21
BINs2
Marker genes11
eDNA detections11
Countries1
The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen
COI-5P639 bp consensus11 specimens
ACGT
▸ drag or hover over the strip to read any position — letter and how much it varies
Violet ticks below the strip = positions where individuals differ; flat = the species' unchanging signature. 91% of positions are identical in every specimen.
Where individuals differ — all 56 variable positions, in barcode order
Each circle is a barcode variant; bigger = more specimens, colour = region. Lines join the most similar variants and the tick marks count the mutations between them — a tight cluster is one “dialect”, a long line a more divergent lineage. Click a circle to list its actual specimens.
Diversity (π)1.9%
Haplotypes3
BINs2
Most divergent pair8.1%
OtherAsia
Closest relatives by DNA barcode
The species whose COI barcode is most similar to this one — a quick “who is this most like”. The percentage is how much the barcode differs; it approximates, but is not, the full evolutionary tree.
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★COI-5PCOIICOXIIICYTBND1ND2ND3ND4ND4LND5-0ND6
animal barcodemitochondrial
Organelle genome
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
▸ Tap any coloured segment — or a gene chip — to see what it is
◖ violet arc = the COI-5P barcode — the ~650 bp read used to ID this species
Pick a coloured segment on the ring — or a gene chip — to read what that gene does.
protein-codingrRNAtRNA
06Genome at a glanceGoaT
The complete instruction manualDracunculus medinensis carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Genome size≈103 750 625 bp assembly estimate
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb
FUNGUS0.04 Gb
THIS GENOME Dracunculus medinensis0.10 Gb
INSECT0.25 Gb
HUMAN3.2 Gb
WHEAT17 Gb
FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
Assembly levelScaffold
Completeness85.6% BUSCO
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type25 records
Wild obs. + sensor17
Museum / vouchered7
Other1
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO60 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 17 records without
Open the mapobservation + sensor17
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 7 records without
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence7
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions2 of 3 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Washington, US
5
Harold Winfred Manter Laboratory of Parasitologylocation not on record
1
Natick, US
1
3 institutions · 7 of 7 vouchered records shown
09Environmental DNA11 detections
Where the DNA of Dracunculus medinensis was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found11
Studies independent surveys1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 11 detections have coordinates
Open the map0 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation12 languages↗
Animal Diversity WebUniv. of Michigan MZspecies account↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility25 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI11 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics21 specimens↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗