Invasive hammerhead flatworms have distinctive curved heads, striped bodies ranging in color from light yellow to dark brown, and they can secrete tetrodotoxin — a neurotoxin found in puffer fish and blue-ringed octopuses.
Five species of invasive hammerhead worms — four in the genus Bipalium and one in Diversibipalium — are established in North America, said Bruce Snyder, an associate professor of biology at Georgia College and State University.
Today, most hammerhead worms (also known as broadhead planarians) are concentrated in the Southeast, where they favor warm, damp habitats.
Bazzano Photography/Alamy Stock PhotoTo date, more than 3,000 sightings in southeastern states of just one invasive hammerhead species — Bipalium kewense — have been shared to the citizen scientist database iNaturalist.
Hammerhead tetrodotoxin, which disrupts neurons’ signaling to muscles, can sicken pets if they eat the worms, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
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