Teredo navalis   Linnaeus, 1758

Naval shipworm

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Teredo navalis  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos 
 Google image |
Image of Teredo navalis (Naval shipworm)
No image available for this species;
drawing shows typical species in Teredinidae.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Bivalvia | Myida | Teredinidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; brackish; depth range 0 - 150 m (Ref. 76971), usually 0 - 20 m (Ref. 75831).  Temperate; 11°C - 25°C (Ref. 98650); 72°N - 58°N, 25°W - 31°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Northeast Atlantic: Native to Iceland, Faroe and Norway. Introduced to the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean and Pacific Ocean. Temperate to tropical.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 76971)

Short description Morphology

Body reddish and with a characteristic elongate worm-like shape. Anterior part covered by a small (up to 2 cm long) reduced helmet-like shell consisting of two triangular-shaped parts (anterior and posterior lobes similar), which is white with light brown periostracum (outermost layer). This shell acts as a wood-boring instrument. The brownish soft worm-like body lies in a calcareous tube up to 60 cm long and 1 cm in diameter.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits wooden material (logs, pilings, ships, other submerged wooden constructions) from temperate to tropical zones (Ref. 76974). Salinity tolerance: 5-35 parts per mille (Ref. 78117). Considered a pest and an invasive species as it destroys submerged wood (Ref. 76971).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Female phase: 8-10 weeks after larval stage; females larviparous, i.e., deposits living larvae instead of eggs; fertilized eggs develop through half of the larval period in the maternal gill chambers. Primary male phase: after 4-6 weeks of larval stage in warm temperatures, up to 6 months in colder temperatures with total length range 2-3 cm and 0.2 body diameter (Ref. 78112). It displays poecilogonony as its reproductive strategy (Ref. 99837).

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Harms, J. 1993. (Ref. 2711)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest

Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
| FishSource |

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Trophic Ecology
Food items
Diet
Food consumption
Ration
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth
Age/Size
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Human Related
Aquaculture profile
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Pictures
References
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 8.1 - 20.2, mean 10.9 (based on 964 cells).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Moderate vulnerability (40 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Comments & Corrections
Back to Search
Random Species
Back to Top