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Feb

13

2007
 
 

Wormafrost



It's a can of worms, alrightPredatory flatworms invade subantarctic island -- 10 metres each year The southernmost tip of Australia is being invaded by killer flatworms, according to a recently published study led by Penelope Greenslade at the Australian National University. Two species of the predatory planarians, Kontikia andersoni and Arthurdendyus vegrandis, have been on the march – er, slither – across Macquarie Island for roughly 100 years since their probable introduction from New Zealand. The legless aliens like nothing better than a tasty Annelid or two, bad news for the island’s earthworms. Worse still is the prospect of the flatworms hitching a lift back to Tasmania or even mainland Australia. Once there, their predatory habits could wreak agricultural havoc by decimating the earthworms on which farmers depend. Source: Greenslade, P, Stevens, MI & Edwards, R (2007) Invasion of two exotic terrestrial flatworms to subantarctic Macquarie Island. Polar Biology DOI: 10.1007/s00300-007-0254-6 Image © Maartje van Caspe

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