The invasive New Guinea flatwormPlatydemus manokwariin France, the first record for Europe: time for action is now

Abstract

Non-indigenous terrestrial flatworms (Platyhelminthes) have been recorded in thirteen European countries. They include Bipalium kewense and Dolichoplana striata that are largely restricted to hothouses and may be regarded as non-invasive species. In addition there are species from the southern hemisphere such as the invasive New Zealand flatworm Arthurdendyus triangulatus in the United Kingdom, Eire and the Faroe Islands, the Australian flatworm Australoplana sanguinea alba in Eire and the United Kingdom, and the Australian Blue Garden flatworm Caenoplana coerulea in France, Menorca and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has some twelve or more non-indigenous species most of which are Australian and New Zealand species. These species may move to an invasive stage when optimum environmental and other conditions occur, and the flatworms then have the potential to cause economic or environmental harm. In this paper, we report the identification (from morphology and molecular analysis of COI sequences) of non-indigenous terrestrial flatworms found in a hothouse in Caen (France) as the New Guinea flatworm Platydemus manokwari de Beauchamp, 1963 (Platyhelminthes, Continenticola, Geoplanidae, Rhynchodeminae). Platydemus manokwari is among the “100 World’s Worst Invader Alien Species”. Lists of World geographic records, prey in the field and prey in laboratories of P. manokwari are provided. This species is considered a threat to native snails wherever it is introduced. The recent discovery of P. manokwari in France represents a significant extension of distribution of this Invasive Alien Species from the Indo-Pacific region to Europe. If it escaped the hothouse, the flatworm might survive winters and become established in temperate countries. The existence of this species in France requires an early warning of this incursion to State and European Union authorities, followed by the eradication of the flatworm in its locality, tightening of internal quarantine measures to prevent further spread of the flatworm to and from this site, identifying if possible the likely primary source of the flatworm, and tracing other possible incursions that may have resulted from accidental dispersal of plants and soil from the site.

Planarian (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) Diversity and Molecular Markers: A New View of an Old Group

“…A good example is the phylogeny of the Neotropical terrestrial planarians, the subfamily Geoplaninae [31] (Figure 1). This group is of particular interest, as they have been proposed as biological indicators of the conservation status of habitats [32,33], and some tropical species have been found to be invasive in Europe and the USA ( [34][35][36], and references therein) Despite being an important group, inference of their phylogeny has never been undertaken from a morphological point of view, with a few exceptions aiming to find the most ancestral group. This is probably due to the problems presented by the morphological study of these organisms (see introduction).…”

“…For instance, there are no molecular phylogenetic studies involving representatives of Asian land planarians (Bipaliinae). Also, it may help in the study of the numerous tropical terrestrial planarians that have been introduced in Europe and the US, for which at present only one study has used molecular data to determine the affiliation of the species introduced [36].…”

First report of the land planarian Diversibipalium multilineatum (Makino & Shirasawa, 1983) (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Continenticola) in Europe

“…P. manokwari (cf. Justine et al 2014). Although the alien land planarian B. kewense has been reported to occur in many greenhouses in Italy (Bello et al 1995), no data are available on its establishment and/or impact on natural environments.…”

“…Introduction of alien species may significantly affect soil ecosystems, through predation or disruption of components of native ecosystems (Winsor et al 2004;Álvarez-Presas et al 2014;Justine et al 2014). Land planarians have been reported as alien species in soils throughout the world and, among those, some species are considered to be successful invaders, e.g.…”

“…Land planarians have been reported as alien species in soils throughout the world and, among those, some species are considered to be successful invaders, e.g. Platydemus manokwari de Beauchamp, 1963, Arthurdendyus triangulatus (Dendy, 1894), Bipalium adventitium Hyman, 1943, Bipalium kewense Moseley, 1878 and Dolichoplana striata Moseley, 1877 (Winsor et al 2004;Álvarez-Presas et al 2014;Justine et al 2014Justine et al , 2015. Soil moisture status seems to be an important element for their successful invasion (Fraser & Boag 1998).…”