Members of the public are being asked to help University of Aberdeen researchers pinpoint just how far a species, that wound up in the UK unintentionally, has travelled across the country.
A new national Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) survey has launched to help find out how far the New Zealand Flatworm has spread and how big an influence it is having on the environment. The New Zealand flatworm survey is the latest addition to the range of citizen science activities offered by OPAL, which is led by Imperial College London and run by a range of organisations including universities, wildlife groups, and museums.
Members of the public who are keen to embark on some ‘citizen science’ to see if there is any sign of the New Zealand flatworm in their garden, are advised that the species is flat, dark purple-brown on top and creamy pale underneath and along the sides. They are usually 5-15cm long and are pointed at both ends and covered in sticky mucus. They are found under pieces of wood, stone or polythene or lying on bare earth often curled up like a Swiss roll and they leave slime circles where they’ve been resting.
This is where scientists at Aberdeen University and the James Hutton Institute, a leading research centre on the New Zealand flatworm, would like the public’s help. If you find one, in your garden or elsewhere, please take a photo and submit this along with its location to OPAL or get involved in a short survey of your outdoor space. This will give the team an idea of what influence these flatworms may have on earthworms across the UK, and other animals that consume earthworms like moles.
Professor René van der Wal, from the University of Aberdeen, who is one of the leaders of this new initiative, said: “We want to get people looking carefully at their gardens and the greenspaces around the cities and towns they live, and school kids to explore their play grounds, in search of this rather peculiar species, and tell us what they’ve found. Ideally, they spend 10 minutes searching for flatworms, earthworms, beetles and signs of moles in a relatively structured way and tell us about their findings.”
Annie Robinson, an OPAL community scientist also from the University of Aberdeen added: “Every record submitted is invaluable and will help inform the development of our response to and research of the New Zealand Flatworm. People can go to the OPAL website and access identification, survey resources and submit pictures of the New Zealand Flatworm. Together we can learn a lot about where this species is and what it’s up to!”
The New Zealand Flatworm was introduced into the UK in the 1960s and feeds on earthworms, which they attack by wrapping their bodies around them and secreting digestive mucus to dissolve them before consuming them. Amazingly, New Zealand Flatworms can survive for over a year by shrinking in size to as little as 10% of their full-grown body mass until they find another earthworm.
While it is hard to control New Zealand flatworm once present, learning more about their distribution can help target initiatives to prevent further introductions via gardens, soil movement etc.
See the distribution of New Zealand Flatworm as shown on the NBN Gateway.
Take part in the survey and find out more by clicking here.
