Scientists Gave Specific Name To A New Species Of Flatworm After Pandemic Outbreak

Humbertium covidum is the name given to a new species of hammerhead flatworm found by researchers. In their new study, the researchers, led by parasitologist Jean-Lou Justine of the National Museum of Natural History in France, stated that the specific name covidum was selected as gratitude to the countless victims worldwide of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, much of this research was completed throughout the lockdowns.

Hammerhead flatworms termed genus Bipaliumare predatory land worms with hammer-shaped heads. Numerous of them have taken advantage of human's love of plants to travel the globe, and many have become invasive species in the United States and Europe.

H. covidum is a little flatworm that measures roughly 3 centimeters (just over an inch) in length and is metallic black in colour with no stripes or other decoration, which is unusual for flatworms. It was discovered in two gardens in France and Italy. The researchers even go into great depth on the worms' genitals, which is an important tool for distinguishing between different species and subfamilies.

The crew uncovered more hammerhead flatworms than just this one COVID species. They also discovered one on the French island of Mayotte, which gave rise to the name Diversibipalium mayottensis. This one is about 3 cm long and has a lovely blue-green speckle (dark turquoise glitter, according to the researchers) over a brown base. However, these flatworms were probably not born in France or Italy. Using next-generation sequencing to determine where the two species fit into the larger family tree, the researchers concluded that both are foreign species, with H. covidum hailing from Asia and D. mayottensis hailing from Madagascar.

The researchers stated that H. covidum is most likely an Asian species that has invaded Europe. It further added that itwill need to be watched in the future to see if it becomes an invasive species.

Flatworms aren't the only ones who have made the journey to other countries. Other species such as Obama nungara in Europe,formerly from Argentina, Platydemus manokwari in the United States,originally from New Guinea, and Bipalium kewense in France originally from Southeast Asia all traveled from one region to another via the plant trade.

The researchers discovered the hammerhead worm had been devouring slugs and snails by using genetic sequencing on the stomach contents of H. covidum, which could have a negative impact on the ecology.Aside from three gardens (two in France and one in Italy) where H. covidum was identified between 2013 and 2019, there have been few other instances of the worm being detected.

However, despite being able to obtain specimens of H. covidum, the researchers were unable to obtain enough specimens of D. mayottensis to completely describe the species. Despite this, the scientists claim D. mayottensis is part of a new species of hammerhead flatworm.