| Family: |
Teredinidae (shipworms) |
| Max. size: |
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| Environment: |
benthic; marine |
| Distribution: |
Indo-Pacific. |
| Diagnosis: |
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| Biology: |
May reach a length of 155 cm and a diameter of 6 cm. Found intertidal in mangrove mud (Ref. 53). Giant bivalve that burrows in black, organic-rich sediments in a marine bay, setting it apart from wood-boring shipworms. Descended from wood-feeding ancestors. Feeds by harboring sulfur-oxidizing chemoautotrophic (thioautotrophic) bacteria in contrast with other shipworms which use cellulolytic symbionts to obtain nutrition from decaying wood (Ref. 114919). Members of the class Bivalvia are mostly gonochoric, some are protandric hermaphrodites. Life cycle: Embryos develop into free-swimming trocophore larvae, succeeded by the bivalve veliger, resembling a miniature clam (Ref. 833). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (120744)
|
| Threat to humans: |
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| Country info: |
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