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Anything that’s long, slimy and ugly is always termed a worm (as long as it doesn’t bite, which would automatically get the label as a snake) . However, this doesn’t apply to shipworms, also called by mariners as the ‘termites of the sea.’ Scientifically, they belong to the genus called Teredo, the most notorious of which is Teredo navalis, originally native to the Caribbean Sea. It is actually a clam, though looking at the pictures here, one would hardly believe that. But it is! And the male Teredo is one lucky stud. There’s 1 Teredo male per 1,500 females. Must be one very exhausted male and probably don’t live very long. For the male Teredo, this phrase certainly applies: “….live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse behind.” Just in case you are curious where it came from, the phrase originated from the 1947 novel by Willard Mothley about juvenile delinquents (turned into a 1949 movie with Humphrey Bogart) entitled “Knock on Any Door” and also often quoted lately to describe rock and movie stars dying young from drug overdose. Please click this link to know more. http://poseidonsciences.scienceblog.com/...
Can be found on mangroves.
Teredo worm burrowing inside a mangrove tree located in Batan, Aklan Philippines.
Spotted on Dec 26, 2010
Submitted on Nov 17, 2011
13 Comments
Great informations!
The shell that you can see is the head area. This is about 8 inches long.
Is the little bivalve shell in the middle or on the end of the clam?
Very interesting information and picture!
Yes, have you tried it?
this is considered a delicacy in Palawan, Philippines :)
interesting description!
Hi Francisco, many thanks for your comments. Can you forward your email address to coleen.sucgang@gmail.com
Thanks.
Dear coleen, I'm forest engeneer and I'm writing a book about wood technology. I liked this photo very much, I would like to use it on this publication. So, I would like to know if you authorize me to use and print this photo on my book. best regards. I'm from Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil, from other side of the world =)
Nice spotting! Is very interesting to see them alive in your post and then prepared for a meal in CherreyMae's post.
You're welcome Coleen. :-)
Thanks for the comment CherreyMae.
Yours is better. You found them in their habitat! :-)
I added my spotting earlier but for eating http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/782... :-)