Jun 24, 2015 11:51 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Snails in the U.S. are in danger of being preyed upon by a flatworm typically native to New Guinea that is making its way to different parts of the world.

According to Live Science, authors of a study published in the journal PeerJ discovered Platydemus manokwari in the U.S. for the first time. The flatworm only grows up to 2.5 inches, but it is a menace to its primary source of prey, snails.

The worm wraps itself around its target and eats from a mouth in the middle of its midsection. The International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Invasive Species Specialist Group named P. manokwari among 100 others on its list of the most dangerous invasive species.

"It will not make differences between abundant common species and rare endemic snails," study lead author Jean-Lou Justine, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, told Newsweek. "In that, it is a significant potential threat to all [native] snail species."

In addition to parts of the U.S., the researchers noticed the flatworm in four other parts of the world where it apparently was not before. They discovered the worm in Puerto Rico in 2014, as well as the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Singapore.

"The record in Florida is of particular concern because it is in mainland America. Until now, infested territories were mostly islands, and the spread of the species from island to island is limited," read a press release detailing the findings. "However, the flatworms now established in Florida will not be subjected to these limitations. In addition to their natural spread, flatworms can easily be passively spread with infested plants, plant parts and soil. Therefore, Platydemus manokwari could potentially spread from Florida throughout the U.S. mainland, and this should be considered a significant threat to the whole of the U.S. and even to the rest of the Americas."

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