The United States gives the impression of playing host to a novel wormy invader.
The new wormnamedAmagapseudobamais a punch in of terrestrial, or land, flatworm.
At this point, though, much about the newly discovered worms remains unknown.
A living Amaga Pseudobama specimen in a petri dish, observed from three different views.© Justine, et al/PeerJ
Given the superficial similarity toO.
nungara, though, the researchers did choose to allude to it in the naming of their new discovery.
While some flatworms are parasites, land flatworms such asO.
pseudobamaare predatory, typically hunting after various creepy crawlies, such as earthworms, snails, and other invertebrates.
These worms tend to live in tropical areas, and as best as the researchers can tell,A.
pseudobamaprobably originates from somewhere in South America.
Since its arrival to the U.S., the worm has likely spread further than we currently know.
Additionally, the researchers found specimens ofA.
Studying the impact ofA.
pseudobamaon its new home is important, though its close resemblance toO.
nungaraand other land flatworms will make that harder.
The scientists hope that their research provides a good start to that work.
Do they pose a risk to native worms and, by extension, native ecosystems?
We have to study these species to find out.
And the first step in that process is clearly identifying a species and naming it.
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