New species of flatworm discovered in the United States

A new species of flatworm has been discovered and has already invaded several southern states of the United States. The particularity of this new species is that it looks a lot like Obama nungara, a species that has invaded much of Europe. The new species has been named Amaga pseudobama in reference to this resemblance.

An international team reports the discovery of a new species of flatworm in the journal PairJThe team includes researchers from the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle in Paris, France, Drexel University and North Carolina State University in the United States, James Cook University in Australia, and the University of Szczecin in Poland. The new species, first spotted in North Carolina in 2020, is a flat, brown worm just a few centimeters long.

The first information received about this species were photos, and the researchers then believed that the specimens belonged to the Obama nungara species, an invasive species native to Brazil and Argentina that has invaded much of Europe.

After a molecular study, delayed by the 2020 lockdowns, it became clear that the species was very different from Obama nungara.

The researchers then carried out a detailed morphological analysis and a molecular study, including the description of the complete mitogenome.

Like Obama nungara, the new species Amaga pseudobama is from South America; however, it has never been observed or analyzed in South America. In addition to North Carolina, the species is also present in Florida, Georgia, and may have already invaded other states. This new species joins other invasive flatworm species discovered in the southern United States, including Platydemus manokwari.

Amaga pseudobama’s resemblance to Obama nungara will pose a challenge to understanding the species’ distribution from citizen science data, which typically relies on photos taken by members of the public, as it will be impossible to distinguish the two species.