First record of the globally invasive planarian Girardia tigrina (Girard, 1850) sensu lato in Morocco

The planarian Girardia tigrina sensu lato is the most successful freshwater invasive triclad. While Antarctica remains a continent without reports for this species, the single African record is unreliable. Therefore, the species is still unknown on this continent despite the presence of adequate water masses for its occurrence. Here, we report the finding of G. tigrina sensu lato in Morocco at Oued Fes, which constitutes probably its first record in the entire African continent. Despite being located in only one out of more than 100 localities sampled by us, ongoing investigations could soon reveal more occurrences of the species in the country and the rest of the continent.

Automated summary

This article reports the first record of G. tigrina sensu lato in the entire African continent, specifically in Morocco at Oued Fes. Although only one locality has been sampled, ongoing investigations may reveal more occurrences of the species in the country and the rest of the continent.