The presence of a species of slug among “the most damaging in the world for crops” has been observed in Martinique with increasing frequency since the beginning of the year, announced this month a note from the Invasive Alien Species Resource Center (CRE-EEE).
Also known as the “pancake slug” due to its light mottled appearance, the gastropod has been sighted in at least four villages in the northern half of Martinique.
“We see that it is already beginning to spread,” warned Régis Delannoye, an expert in malacology (the study of molluscs), on the antenna of local RCI radio.
A health risk
This slug, “the largest (…) observed in the Caribbean” according to the CRE-EEE, has lived for more than ten years both in Florida and in Guadalupe where it is considered “a true pest” according to the scientist: “In house, it attacks the trunks of banana trees causing diseases”, laments Régis Delannoye, stating that he has even seen it attack “a cactus”.
In addition to the damage it causes to crops, the presence of this slug constitutes a risk to human health because it can be “a vector of parasitic diseases (…) causing meningitis (which can be fatal).”
Table salt or tobacco dust, as well as molluscicidal powders, are used to control its population on the other islands where it proliferates.
Source: BFM TV
