Ficopomatus enigmaticus, commonly known as the Australian tubeworm,ten Hove, H., et al. (2013). Ficopomatus enigmaticus (Fauvel, 1923). In: Read, G. and K. Fauchald. (Eds.) World Polychaeta Database. World Register of Marine Species.Ficopomatus enigmaticus. Global Invasive Species Database. ISSG. is a species of serpulid tubeworms. Their true native range is unknown,Read, G. B. Ficopomatus enigmaticus. Annelid Resources. 2009.Ficopomatus enigmaticus. National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System (NEMESIS). Marine Invasions Research Lab. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. but they probably originated in the Southern Hemisphere,Ficopomatus enigmaticus. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, United Kingdom. perhaps from the Indian Ocean and the coastal waters of Australia.Cohen, A. N. 2011. Ficopomatus enigmaticus. The Exotics Guide. Center for Research on Aquatic Bioinvasions and San Francisco Estuary Institute. Today they have a cosmopolitan distribution, having been introduced to shallow waters worldwide.Schwindt, E. and O. O. Iribarne. (2000). Settlement sites, survival and effects on benthos of an introduced reef-building polychaete in a SW Atlantic coastal lagoon. Bulletin of Marine Science 67(1), 73-82. The Australian tubeworm is an invasive species that dominates and alters habitats, reduces water quality, depletes resources, and causes biofouling.
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 Ficopomatus enigmaticus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens32
BINs3
Marker genes3
eDNA detections64
Countries5
The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen
COI-5P559 bp consensus20 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. 87% of positions are identical in every specimen.
Where individuals differ — all 73 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)5.3%
Haplotypes5
BINs3
Most divergent pair12.9%
OtherAsia
Marker genes sequenced
★ 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-5P18S-3P18S-5P
animal barcoderibosomal
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type4 542 records
Wild obs. + sensor2 104
Museum / vouchered1 779
Other659
Origin
Introduced19
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO2 320 km²
Depth
0–200 m sunlit170
200–1000 m twilight1
1–4 km midnight0
>4 km abyssal0
median 1.2 m · max 500 m · 171 records with depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy82% within 1 km
≤100 m 468≤1 km 108≤10 km 120>10 km 5
701 georeferenced · 1 403 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor2 104
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 accuracy67% within 1 km
≤100 m 68≤1 km 80≤10 km 64>10 km 9
221 georeferenced · 1 558 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 779
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 institutions6 of 36 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korealocation not on record
351
Sydney, AU
206
RWSlocation not on record
121
CASlocation not on record
80
GIMARISlocation not on record
45
Museums Victorialocation not on record
37
Institut Francais pour l'Etude de la Merlocation not on record
22
486location not on record
18
DASSHlocation not on record
14
Earth Sciences New Zealandlocation not on record
8
Zoological Museum, Moscow Lomonosov State Universitylocation not on record
8
NIWA:MITSlocation not on record
5
Marine research institute, Klaipeda Universitylocation not on record
5
Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503)location not on record
5
Klaipeda University Marine research institutelocation not on record
4
ARMS-MBONlocation not on record
3
South Kensington, GB
3
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
3
Auckland, NZ
3
CSIC-CEAB Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (1393) Université de Liège Underwater research and oceanographic station (4501)location not on record
3
CSIC-CEAB Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (1393) Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503)location not on record
3
IBIOMARlocation not on record
2
Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record
2
Natural History Museum, Londonlocation not on record
2
MBRPlocation not on record
2
CSIC-CEAB Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (1393) Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503) Université de Liège Underwater research and oceanographic station (4501)location not on record
2
Buenos Aires, AR
2
Montgomery, US
1
CSIC-CEAB Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (1393) Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503) Universite de Rennes I Ecobio : Ecosystems biodiversity evolution (1910)location not on record
1
Université de Liège Underwater research and oceanographic station (4501)location not on record
1
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research-Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculturelocation not on record
1
Frankfurt am Main
1
Western Australian Museumlocation not on record
1
DOI/NPS, Salem Maritime National Historic Sitelocation not on record
1
CSIC-CEAB Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (1393)location not on record
1
Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallerylocation not on record
1
36 institutions · 968 of 1 779 vouchered records shown · 129 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA64 detections
Where the DNA of Ficopomatus enigmaticus 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 found64
Studies independent surveys5
Countries4
Verifiable raw sequence linked5
Signal confidence: moderateweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Measured at samplingin-field
Temperature13.9 °C 10.4–21.8
pH8.02 7.80–8.13
Conductivity42,000 µS/cm 21,000–53,000
Salinity26.9 PSU 12.4–34.7
Dissolved oxygen8.60 mg/L 6.81–9.49
Turbidity0.97 NTU 0.39–2.41
Depth0.5 m 0.5–15.0
Coastal water
22 samples with on-site data · median with range · describes the sample, not the organism
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median10.9 °C 6.40–14.2
Seasonal swing summer↔winter8.50 °C
Max temp (day)14.6 °C 10.2–18.2
Min temp (night)7.00 °C 2.20–10.4
Precipitation55.7 mm/mo 50.1–65.8
Air humidity59.0 % 56.9–61.9
Moisture balance-31.6 mm/mo -77.1–21.9
Vapour deficit555 Pa 366–698
Wind speed3.90 m/s 2.00–4.20
Cloud cover40.2 % 34.3–52.8
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 42 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
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 Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility2 701 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System1 841 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI64 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics32 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗