Teredo is a genus of highly modified saltwater clams which bore in wood and live within the tunnels they create. They are commonly known as "shipworms;" however, they are not worms, but marine bivalve molluscs (phylum Mollusca) in the taxonomic family Teredinidae. The type species is Teredo navalis.
The tunneling habit of species in the genus inspired the name of the Teredo network tunneling protocol. The submarine HMS Teredo may also have been named after this genus, which works invisibly, below the surface, and can be very damaging to marine installations made of wood.
Like most marine based bivalves, teredo worms are primarily filter feeders and consume mostly seston, and not wood.[1] Wood supplements their primary diet and is consumed with the assistance of bacteria inside their [gill] cells.[2] However, wood is not a necessary part of their diet and they can live on the surface both of wooden and non-wooden structures.[3]
Species within the genus Teredo include: