Ophiura albida
Forbes, 1839 · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Ophiura albida's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation7 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility40 774 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System44 457 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI158 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics75 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Ophiura albida is a species of brittle star in the order Ophiurida. It is typically found on the seabed in the north eastern Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea and is sometimes known as the serpent's table brittle star.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Habitat & environment3
Other traits2
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 Ophiura albida has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ 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.
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.
The complete instruction manual Ophiura albida 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
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).
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.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type85 231 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
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.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions13 of 57 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| WMR_IMARESlocation not on record | 3 865 |
| CEFASlocation not on record | 3 360 |
| 730location not on record | 1 769 |
| Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO)location not on record | 1 238 |
| RWSlocation not on record | 1 110 |
| NTNU-VMlocation not on record | 878 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 805 |
| Station Biologique de Roscoff (EDMO:521)location not on record | 600 |
| Stockholm, SE | 515 |
| Institut Francais pour l'Etude de la Merlocation not on record | 385 |
| Gothenburg, SE | 371 |
| SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record | 355 |
| Bergen, NO | 317 |
| 486location not on record | 227 |
| MZLUlocation not on record | 217 |
| DASSHlocation not on record | 106 |
| Zoologisches Museum der Universitaet Kiellocation not on record | 99 |
| Rijkswaterstaatlocation not on record | 56 |
| South Kensington, GB | 48 |
| 630location not on record | 33 |
| Laboratoria di biologia marina di Triestelocation not on record | 19 |
| Baltic Sea Research Institute Warnemündelocation not on record | 17 |
| Ilvolocation not on record | 16 |
| Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503) Université de Liège Underwater research and oceanographic station (4501)location not on record | 15 |
| PNHSlocation not on record | 14 |
| Norwegian Institute of Marine Researchlocation not on record | 13 |
| UGentlocation not on record | 12 |
| Université de Liège Underwater research and oceanographic station (4501)location not on record | 11 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 11 |
| Citadel Hill, GB | 10 |
| Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503) Phaxas Expertise Of Marine Fauna (4507)location not on record | 9 |
| Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503)location not on record | 9 |
| Natural History Museum, Londonlocation not on record | 8 |
| Russian Academy of Sciences, Zoological Institute, Zoological Museumlocation not on record | 8 |
| Hellenic Centre of Marine Research; Institute for Oceanographylocation not on record | 8 |
| Cambridge, US | 7 |
| Istituto di Scienze Marine di Venezialocation not on record | 6 |
| Biomorlocation not on record | 5 |
| Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls-Sur-Mer; Laboratoire d'Océanographie Biologiquelocation not on record | 5 |
| Helsinki, FI | 5 |
| Los Angeles, US | 4 |
| Bergen, NO | 4 |
| University of Oslo (UiO)location not on record | 3 |
| ICESlocation not on record | 3 |
| Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503) Phaxas Expertise Of Marine Fauna (4507) 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) Phaxas Expertise Of Marine Fauna (4507) Université de Liège Underwater research and oceanographic station (4501)location not on record | 2 |
| Deutsches Zentrum fuer Marine Biodiversitaetsforschunglocation 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 |
| Brussels, BE | 1 |
| CSIC-CEAB Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (1393) Eco laboratory geochemistry Benthic Environments UMR 8222 (4503)location not on record | 1 |
| WoRMS Editorial Boardlocation not on record | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| CASlocation not on record | 1 |
| CLOlocation not on record | 1 |
| HCMRlocation not on record | 1 |
| New Haven, US | 1 |
| CSIC-CEAB Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (1393)location not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Ophiura albida 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
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
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.