First record of the land planarian Bipalium kewense Moseley, 1878 (Tricladida: Geoplanidae: Bipaliinae) from Cuba

Morffe, Jans; García, Nayla; Adams, Byron J.; Hasegawa, Koichi

doi:10.3391/bir.2016.5.3.01

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Among land planarians, hammerhead flatworms, that is species belonging to the subfamily Bipaliinae and mainly to the genera Bipalium and Diversibipalium , originate from Asia and Madagascar, but have now reached many new locations worldwide (Ducey et al, 2007; see, e.g., Ducey & Noce, 1998; Justine, Winsor, et al, 2018; Morffe et al, 2016). Bipalium kewense , for example, which has a natural range in Southeast Asia, was already present on all continents except Antarctica as early as 40 years ago (Winsor, 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hammerhead worms everywhere? Modelling the invasion of bipaliin flatworms in a changing climate

Fourcade

Winsor

Justine

2022

Diversity and Distributions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim: Alien species introduced into new ecosystems occasionally predate upon or outcompete native species. Land planarians (Geoplanidae) are a family of carnivorous Platyhelminthes among which several species are found outside their native range. Specifically, hammerhead flatworms originate from Asia and Madagascar but have now reached many new locations worldwide through the transport of exotic plants.Because they are predators of earthworms and snails, they are considered a potential threat to native ecosystems. In this context, to anticipate their potential impacts and to inform early preventative actions, it is necessary to know where these species could spread to in future, or where they might already be present but undetected. Location: Worldwide. Methods: Here, we used occurrence records from online databases and climatic and soil variables to model the potential distribution of five hammerhead flatworm species (Bipalium adventitium, B. kewense, B. pennsylvanicum, B. vagum and Diversibipalium multilineatum) that are known to occur outside their native range. Results:We demonstrate that precipitation is an important factor determining their distribution, which is in accordance with their known affinity for humidity. We show that some areas have the potential to be invaded by all five species, including regions that are relatively spared so far. This includes the River Plate basin in South America, which already harbours a diverse fauna of native terrestrial flatworms and which appears to also be a potential hotspot for the establishment of alien hammerhead flatworms. According to scenarios of future climate change, two species (B. kewense and B. vagum) that currently have the largest observed global range are predicted to further increase their potential distribution. Main conclusions:The results we report can be used to provide guidance for monitoring the potential sources of introduction of alien hammerhead flatworms in regions that are suitable, but which are not yet colonized.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hammerhead worms everywhere? Modelling the invasion of bipaliin flatworms in a changing climate

Fourcade

Winsor

Justine

2022

Diversity and Distributions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While there are multiple records of hammerhead flatworms for Canada (Winsor 1983;Justine et al 2019), the USA (Hyman 1943;Ogren 1981Ogren , 1984Ogren , 1987Winsor 1983;Ball and Sluys 1990;Ogren and Sheldon 1991;Ducey and Noce 1998), some Caribbean islands (Winsor 1983;Morffe et al 2016;Justine et al 2018;Reinés-Álvarez 1996;Rodríguez-Cabrera and Torres 2019), as well as other regions of the world (Baptista et al 2010;Du Bois-Reymond 1953;Filella-Subirà 1983;Justine et al 2018Justine et al , 2022Sánchez-García 2014;Negrete et al 2012;Okochi et al 2010;Wu et al 2005), there is almost no information on this subfamily in Mexico. We were unable to find more than a single formal record for the country (Winsor 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New records of invasive hammerhead flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae, Bipaliinae) from Mexico using a citizen science platform, with an identification key to the species found in North America

Luna¹,

García-Barrios²,

Valle³

et al. 2022

CheckList

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present new records of the invasive hammerhead flatworms Bipalium kewense Moseley, 1878 and Bipalium vagum Jones & Sterrer, 2005 (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae, Bipaliinae) from several states in Mexico based on iNaturalist and two vouchered specimens. This represents for Mexico the first review of distribution records of this group and highlights the importance of citizen science in monitoring the distribution of these ecologically important invasive predators. Methods for the collection and preservation of hammerhead flatworms, as well as an identification key, are proposed.

show abstract

“…Land planarians are dispersed between countries, and within countries, through the transport of plants. Winsor (1983a) summarized knowledge about the world distribution of B. kewense , listing the occurrence of the species in 39 territories; by 2004 the species was recorded in 45 territories ( Winsor, Johns & Barker, 2004 ), and subsequently reported in Northern and Peninsular Italy, Sardinia, and Sicily ( Gremigni, 2003 ); Czech Republic and Slovakia ( Košel, 2002 ); Cuba ( Morffe et al, 2016 ); Ecuador ( Wizen, 2015 ); and Pakistan (M. Darley, 2003, personal communication to LW). As Sluys (2016) commented: ‘Almost every year B. kewense is found in new places: for example, this year (2016) it was found on São Miguel Island in the Azores and on São Tomé Island in the Gulf of Guinea.’ Although such reports from small remote islands are important for our knowledge of these invasive species (and we indeed add many new records of this type in this paper), we consider that the major finding of this paper is that several species of hammerhead flatworms are established in a European country, France, probably for more than 20 years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Giant wormschez moi!Hammerhead flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae,Bipaliumspp.,Diversibipaliumspp.) in metropolitan France and overseas French territories

Justine

Winsor

Gey³

et al. 2018

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundSpecies of the genera Bipalium and Diversibipalium, or bipaliines, are giants among land planarians (family Geoplanidae), reaching length of 1 m; they are also easily distinguished from other land flatworms by the characteristic hammer shape of their head. Bipaliines, which have their origin in warm parts of Asia, are invasive species, now widespread worldwide. However, the scientific literature is very scarce about the widespread repartition of these species, and their invasion in European countries has not been studied.MethodsIn this paper, on the basis of a four year survey based on citizen science, which yielded observations from 1999 to 2017 and a total of 111 records, we provide information about the five species present in Metropolitan France and French overseas territories. We also investigated the molecular variability of cytochrome-oxidase 1 (COI) sequences of specimens.ResultsThree species are reported from Metropolitan France: Bipalium kewense, Diversibipalium multilineatum, and an unnamed Diversibipalium ‘black’ species. We also report the presence of B. kewense from overseas territories, such as French Polynesia (Oceania), French Guiana (South America), the Caribbean French islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, and Montserrat (Central America), and La Réunion island (off South-East Africa). For B. vagum, observations include French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Montserrat, La Réunion, and Florida (USA). A probable new species, Diversibipalium sp. ‘blue,’ is reported from Mayotte Island (off South–East Africa). B. kewense, B. vagum and D. multilineatum each showed 0% variability in their COI sequences, whatever their origin, suggesting that the specimens are clonal, and that sexual reproduction is probably absent. COI barcoding was efficient in identifying species, with differences over 10% between species; this suggests that barcoding can be used in the future for identifying these invasive species. In Metropolitan south–west France, a small area located in the Department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques was found to be a hot-spot of bipaliine biodiversity and abundance for more than 20 years, probably because of the local mild weather.DiscussionThe present findings strongly suggest that the species present in Metropolitan France and overseas territories should be considered invasive alien species. Our numerous records in the open in Metropolitan France raise questions: as scientists, we were amazed that these long and brightly coloured worms could escape the attention of scientists and authorities in a European developed country for such a long time; improved awareness about land planarians is certainly necessary.

show abstract

First record of the land planarian Bipalium kewense Moseley, 1878 (Tricladida: Geoplanidae: Bipaliinae) from Cuba

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Hammerhead worms everywhere? Modelling the invasion of bipaliin flatworms in a changing climate

Hammerhead worms everywhere? Modelling the invasion of bipaliin flatworms in a changing climate

New records of invasive hammerhead flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae, Bipaliinae) from Mexico using a citizen science platform, with an identification key to the species found in North America

Giant wormschez moi!Hammerhead flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae,Bipaliumspp.,Diversibipaliumspp.) in metropolitan France and overseas French territories

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About