Collins is trying to get funding to study the spread of New Guinea flatworms across the state.Ĭopyright 2020 WGCU. But there is no indication that the flatworms found in Florida are carrying harmful rat lung worms right now. That’s why he said people should not touch them. 'If you become infected, it can burrow into the meninges of the brain causing a kind of encephalitis.' 'These things can carry the rat lung worm, which is something that can be transmitted to humans,' he said. But Collins said the flatworms threaten more than just Florida’s environment. 'And this is just another challenge for them.'He said New Guinea flatworms caused the extinction of native land snails in other parts of the world. One of the hottest smallmouth bass drop shot baits this fall, the Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Nose Worm is a 4.25. 'Development, other kinds of non-native things have been introduced, loss of habitat- all these sorts of things are affecting our native land snails,' said Collins. Available in 10 colors, 8 baits per pack. So, the reader’s worm is from Florida it is a Florida worm, if you will, although of course the worm she discovered might be found in any number of other places depending on what it is.

The reader’s house is on the east coast of Florida, in a town called Fort Pierce. The Florida Channel Researchers in Florida found a New Guinea flatworm in the shell of a dead native land snail, which could indicate a problem for the local snail population. The worm is also described as slick and is about four inches long.

Florida flat worm