Teredora princesae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Teredora princesae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Myida |
| Family: | Teredinidae |
| Genus: | Teredora |
| Species: | T. princesae |
| Binomial name | |
| Teredora princesae | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Teredora princesae is a species of marine bivalve mollusc in the family Teredinidae, the shipworms. This species lives in timber that is floating in the western Pacific Ocean.
Like other shipworms, Teredora princesae has an elongated, wormlike body which is completely enclosed in a tunnel it has made in floating or submerged timber. At the front end of the animal are two calcareous valves, as found in other bivalve molluscs. These are white and sharp and have rough ridges that are used to rasp the timber and slowly elongate the burrow. Food particles and oxygen are extracted by the gills from the water that has been sucked into the burrow. Waste and reproductive cells are discharged through the opening at the back of the burrow.[2]
The life cycle is likely to be similar to other shipworms where the males release their gametes into the water and some of the sperm gets drawn into the burrows of females. The fertilised eggs are retained in the mothers' gill chambers where they begin their development. Later they are released into the sea as veliger larvae. These eat phytoplankton and drift with the currents. When they are ready to undergo metamorphosis they try to find suitable timber on which to settle. There they begin to bore into the wood and spend the rest of their lives as tunnellers.[3]