Invasive Worm Threatens Dade Snail Population

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- For the first time, a bizarre, alien-like worm has popped up in the United States specifically South Florida.

According to LiveScience, the New Guinea flatworm also known as the Platydemus manokwari has a mouth in the middle of its belly and is only a couple of millimeters long.

MT @TelaBotanica Have you seen the New Guinea flatworm in your garden? 1st record in Europe: https://t.co/xEbxclhSlZ pic.twitter.com/uaWYbttmrl

— Sophie Leguil (@SLeguil) March 28, 2014

The worm, originally from New Guinea has spread across the globe through exotic plants, soil and even snails.

Speaking of snails, it's considered an invasive species because it threatens the native snail population. The worm wraps itself around snails and eats them.

The worm is considered among the 100 worst invasive species in the world, according to the Invasive Species Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The worm has been considered the cause of the extinction of native land snails in the Pacific Rim islands.

The worm is believed to have arrived to Florida in 2012. Since then, it's been spotted around Miami-Dade County.

The discovery is especially concerning because from Florida, the worm population could easily spread throughout the Americas. It's something that would have been a hard feat from its previous home in small islands.