Kuphus polythalamia (Linnaeus, 1767)
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Family:  Teredinidae (shipworms)
Max. size: 
Environment:  benthic; marine
Distribution:  Indo-Pacific.
Diagnosis:   
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).
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. 123251)
Threat to humans: 
Country info:   
 

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