Shovel-headed Garden Worms belong to the Phylum Platyhelminthes, a large phylum of worms known as flatworms because of their flattened bodies. This species could therefore be important to understanding the evolutionary history of hammerhead flatworms.The Shovel-headed Garden Worm, Bipalium kewense, was first discovered in the hothouses of the famous Kew Gardens in England (its scientific name means 'plate-headed worm from Kew').

Diversibipalium mayottensis have a unique green-blue iridescence, and the researchers determined the species belongs to a hammerhead sister group, distinct from all other hammerhead flatworms. The researchers studied the anatomy and morphology of the flatworms and carried out genetic analysis to formally describe the new species. This species could have been introduced to Mayotte from Madagascar. The researchers discovered the second species, which they named Diversibipalium mayottensis, on Mayotte, a French island off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.

Some reports indicate the species may also be in Russia, China and Japan, according to the study. Humbertium covidum were discovered in two gardens in Pyrénées-Atlantiques in southwest France and a garden in Veneto in northern Italy, although the species likely originated in Asia. These flatworms can reproduce asexually, so one hammerhead flatworm can give birth to offspring without a mate, making it easier for them to establish themselves as an invasive species - organisms that cause ecological or economic damage to an environment where they are not native, Live Science previously reported.

Typically found in warm parts of Asia, hammerhead flatworms are often accidentally transported around the world by humans in soil from the plant trade.

Flat worm vs snail