Talk:Shipworm

Sparse
This page is shockingly sparse. I will start updating it when possible with more details about the anatomy, life history and taxonomy of this group. 137.219.16.125 03:42, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Some web sources

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Soulrefrain 16:45, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Bio-fuel
Any news on if these guys are being used to digest cellulose for biofuels? 155.97.14.34 00:57, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Image
It would be great to get an image of some really eaten up driftwood for this page. --- BAxelrod (talk) 02:22, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Columbus?
A cite is needed for the claim that Columbus's ships used copper sheathing. And a cite to the wiki on copper doesn't really cut it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.96.108.47 (talk) 18:24, 4 September 2008 (UTC)


 * There are a number of websites out there saying that Columbus's fleet had copper sheathing, i.e., , and . But there are also sites that say that the first copper sheathed ship was the frigate Alarm in 1761 (see here  and here ).  I am a bit doubtful of the Columbus story; why would it take the Royal Navy 269 years to follow Columbus's example?  But the evidence is conflicting, so we need some better documents that cite to primary sources. Pirate Dan (talk) 21:30, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Teredo IPv6 Tunneling
The Teredo tunneling technology (tunneling IPv6 connectivity over IPv4 using UDP datagrams) was named after the Shipworm but its creator changed its name to Teredo (the latin) to avoid confusion with computer worms (malware). Should this be mentioned in this article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.14.89.251 (talk) 17:33, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Digestive processes
Someone added content on the digestive mechanism wood, and included information from the shipworm typhlosole symbiont paper (June 2024, IBB). I revised that content somewhat to more accurately reflect the findings of that paper and the discovery of those new symbiont bacteria. I also added discussion on the importance of lignin being digested first to open up pathways for the enzymatic deconstruction of cellulose in the elementary fibril of wood cell walls.

Toredo worm
Am I right in thinking that toredo worm is not the same as the teredo worm? (Google toredo and hull.) See http://www.shipyard.co.za/index.php?comp=content&op=view&id=2 where under Copper Plating, From around 1750 the hulls of most ships were copper sheathed below the waterline. This was done for protection against the Toredo worm and also to stop marine growth on the hull. The Toredo was a wood boring worm as thick as a man's finger and as long as his forearm. Once a ship was infested with the Toredo, the end of the ship was in sight. If true there should be a Wikipedia article written up on this worm.--User:Brenont (talk) 01:00, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * "Toredo" is a misspelling of Teredo. Wilson44691 (talk) 11:27, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

How big?
It sure would be nice to know how big these things are. Typically I will eat 10-12 unbreaded buffalo wings in a sitting, but with raw Gulf oysters the number is closer to 35. How do these numbers translate to shipworms? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.201.104.120 (talk) 15:05, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Other possible points
I have read that this worm cannot propagate/infest a hull in fresh water or when a ship in under sail at speeds of 3 knots or above.

I have seen pages that suggest that the Spanish Armada was in part assembled in a salt water port and thus had the worm.

Note that many historical ports are not at the immediate seaside, but have their moorings further up the river whose inlet forms the port, suggesting that this type of location may have been chosen to eliminate the worm on moored ships. If so, this worm has had a substantial, and unrecognized, impact on human geography. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.210.80.127 (talk) 17:21, 26 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Likewise, an expansion of the discussion of anti-shipworm methods would be enlightening. Copper sheathing was one of many preventative measures, including coating the hull with tar or pitch, moving into fresh water for a time, or hauling the ship completely out of the water to dry out.  Someone knowledgeable about such things could speak intelligently on the subject.  Wyvern (talk) 06:03, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

"via Latin"?
Please remove the solecistic and erroneous phrase "via Latin" in this sentence: "Sometimes called "termites of the sea", they also are known by the common name "Teredo worms" or simply "teredo", from the Greek language "τερηδων", via Latin [sic]." It should read, after the word "teredo," as follows: "... from New Latin Terd, mollusk genus, from Latin terd, a kind of worm, from Greek terdn." And the phrase "from the Greek language" is redundant; simply say "from the Greek" or "from Greek".


 * From The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Autodidact1 (talk) 09:58, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

The brackish Baltic
Does brackish mean more or less salty than oceanic salinity? It's not clear from the article or from the dictionary definition of brackish ("having a somewhat salty taste"). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.253.44.20 (talk) 02:45, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Less, driven by extensive freshwater input. Chiswick Chap (talk) 09:01, 18 April 2017 (UTC)

Naked
From the first paragraph: "a group of saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies". Is "naked" a technical term? It's a clam that looks like a worm, how is it anything but naked? Who expects furry clams? Can the "naked" go, please, or is it actually meaningful? JohnHarris (talk) 08:56, 18 April 2017 (UTC)

Genera: Kuphus polythalamia
" The bivalve animal is a rare creature that spends its life inside an elephant tusk-like hard shell made of calcium carbonate and has a protective cap over its head which reabsorbs to burrow into the mud for food. "

Can someone who knows about the subject fix this please? I don't know what the editor was trying to say regarding the creature's protective cap and what it does to burrow into the mud. Informata ob Iniquitatum (talk) 23:35, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

The answer is given on the BBC web site http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39626131 that is cited as Ref 2 in the main page. The BBC article has an annotated picture and says: "The giant shipworm feeds from a valve (marked V) and has two siphons at its tail (marked S) to take in and expel water". I am not an expert on these creatures so I won't edit the main page any further than I have done already. (All I did was add the reference to the BBC website.) As I understand it, simply from reading the BBC article, when the shipworm wants to feed it must first remove the end cap which covers over its valve. (Is "valve" a name used instead of "mouth" for these creatures?) The shipworm removes the cap by reabsorbing - back into its body - the calcium from which the cap was made. The valve is thus exposed and the shipworm then uses the valve to burrow down further into the mud to find a new supply of food. [User:Anameisbutaname|Anameisbutaname]] (talk • contribs) 09:41, 20 April 2017 (UTC)

Edible species
What is the species consumed in the Philippines (so called tamilok)? Ellicrum (talk) 13:03, 1 August 2018 (UTC)
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuphus mentions tamilok in the section headed Kuphus polythalamia. Could that be what you were looking for?
 * It's not explicitly mentioned but it's a beginning of track, thank you for the link. Ellicrum (talk) 16:15, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

"Species" section
This part is really odd. It begins with a rambling discourse on molluscs, seeming to bear nothing on the topic at hand. Then finally we get some information about shipworm diet (which is what I was looking for). Mostly wood. Perhaps all of them live on wood.

There's a lot in this section about another species entirely, I think. It should probably be removed. It simply has nothing to do with this at all.

I think it's likely that "Most shipworms are relatively smaller and feed on rotten wood." is all that is on topic.

Perhaps the other "species" being described is in the same genus but shifted to the symbiotic form of feeding described? Which, by the way, is not comparable to photosynthesis in any way at all. Nothing like it.

The article would be better were this entire section stricken. However, there should be a few lines about actual diet? Huw Powell (talk) 22:57, 25 June 2023 (UTC)