According to a new study published Tuesday in the journal PeerJ, a New Guinea flatworm has also made its way to number gardens of Miami, Florida, as well as in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The flatworm eats snails and has ability to live in any environment. It has spread out of its native New Guinea to islands throughout the Pacific and as far away as France in the past few decades. Once these worms are in an area, it is very difficult to halt their spread.

The worm has been considered as one of the world’s worst invasive species. The Invasive Species Specialist Group, a global network of scientific and policy experts, has placed the worm in their 100 worst invasive species list.

According to study author Jean-Lou Justine, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, the flatworm gobbles up soil-dwelling invertebrates like snails, which could have a big impact on the environment.

Justine said “It will not make differences between abundant common species and rare endemic snails. In that, it is a significant potential threat to all native snail species. This could ripple up the food chain to affect creatures that eat snails, like birds”.

She added that the worm could pose threat in the other direction of the food chain as well, such as the plants that snails eat and certain weeds.

The worm isn’t likely to spread into the extreme northern US or Canada and also in the deserts or in rockier mountain areas, as it prefers areas with soil and plants.