my %sequences = ( "SequenceID|1234_Gene1" => 'CTTTTAAGCTGATTAGGCTTTTATACCATTAGATTTAGTAACTATTGTCTTTTAA', "SequenceID|9876_Gene2" => 'GTGCTGTCTTAAGTTGAACAGAGTGTGGGAGGAAATATAAGCAAAGTTATTCCGTAGAATT', "SequenceID|4567_Gene3" => 'CATCCTCCTTTACACCCCACAAACATTTGGCAACCCCTGATAGGTTTCTTTCTTGTGGA', ); foreach my $key (keys %sequences) { my $len = length ($sequences{$key}); print "$key:$len\n"; }