New Guinea flatworms have invaded the United States, particularly Florida, researchers announced Tuesday, adding that these planarians are actually the world's "worst" invasive species. Yikes! But don't fret. Below are five interesting things you need to know about New Guinea flatworms. 

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1. New Guinea flatworm's real name

All known species in this world have scientific names, and the same can be said of these New Guinea planarians. The real name of this crawler is Platydemus manokwari, Huffington Post has learned.

A member of phylum Platyhelminthes, P. manokwari belongs to class Turbellaria and order Tricladida. It was first described in 1962 at the Dutch New Guinea Agricultural Research Station in a coastal town called Manokwari; hence, its common name.

2. New Guinea flatworm's origin

As stated earlier, this flatworm was first described in a research facility in New Guinea. The South West Pacific region island is considered to be its first habitat.

However, the invasive planarian has reached other parts of the world as time passed by. Today, New Guinea flatworms are present in Singapore, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Puerto Rico, Japan, French Polynesia, Mariana Islands, the Philippines, Vanuatu and now Florida, as per CABI.org.

3. New Guinea flatworms reproduce quickly

The secret to this flatworm's almost ubiquitous presence is the fact that it reproduces at a rapid rate.

Scientist Jean-Lou Justine, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, said, "Once the New Guinea flatworm arrives in a new territory, and providing the conditions are right, it reproduces quickly." He then added, "It quickly adapts itself to predate on local snails and other invertebrates."

Not only that, P. manokwari does not have a lot of predators. In the U.S., researchers believe that these land planarians will be free to propagate quickly since they do not have known predators in the United States, according to Newsweek.

4. New Guinea flatworms threaten the ecosystem

While the New Guinea flatworms are not harmful to humans, they are actually threatening the balance in the ecosystem. Reports published this week in PeerJ stated that the invasion of the New Guinea flatworm in mainland Florida is very alarming since it is putting the whole country at risk.

These planarians actually feed on snails. They even go the extra mile of climbing up trees just to feast on snails.

When these flatworms invaded France, scientists were quick to hypothesize that these crawlers can disturb the ecosystem of local snails if they were not eradicated quickly, as per Washington Post.

5. New Guinea flatworms belong to the worst invasive aliens

Apparently, the New Guinea flatworm has made a name for itself. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed this crawler on its 100 worst invasive alien species.

According to the Union, P. manokwari belongs to the list because it tends to invade other ecosystems and the result of this invasion is the destruction or death of other species.

Right now, it has penetrated Florida, and scientists fear that this flatworm will quickly spread in other southern states before it reaches Mexico and the remaining parts of the Americas.

TagsNew Guinea Flatworm, Florida, Worms, Science