Great shipworm
Teredo navalis Linnaeus, 1758
Status not recordedmolluscs
The great shipworm (Teredo navalis) is a mollusc in the class Bivalvia, family Teredinidae and subfamily Teredininae. It belongs to the genus Teredo within the superfamily Pholadoidea, phylum Mollusca and kingdom Animalia.
Quick facts about the great shipworm
The species was named by Linnaeus, 1758, and is also called shipworm, naval shipworm or common shipworm.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the great shipworm
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the great shipworm live?
Not recorded
What is the great shipworm?
Teredo navalis, commonly called the naval shipworm or turu, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Teredinidae. This species is the type species of the genus Teredo. Like other species in this family, this bivalve is called a shipworm because it resembles a worm in general appearance while at the anterior end it has a small shell with two valves, and it is adept at boring through wood.
This species may have originated in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, but has spread around the world. It tunnels into underwater piers and pilings and is a major cause of damage and destruction to submarine timber structures and the hulls of wooden boats.
From the Wikipedia article “Teredo navalis” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teredo_navalis&oldid=1374684174), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the great shipworm endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the great shipworm classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumMollusca
- classBivalvia
- familyTeredinidae
- genusTeredo
- SpeciesTeredo navalis Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Pholas teredo, Serpula teredo, Teredo austini, Teredo batavus, Teredo beachi, Teredo beaufortana, Teredo japonica, Teredo marina, Teredo marina, Teredo morsei, Teredo navalis borealis, Teredo navalis japonica, Teredo navalis var. occlusa, Teredo novangliae, Teredo pocilliformis, Teredo sellii, Teredo sinensis, Teredo vulgaris
Other names and names in other languages (25)
- Common shipwormEnglish
- Naval shipwormEnglish
- ShipwormEnglish
- bromaCatalan
- corc maríCatalan
- šášeň lodníCzech
- pæleormDanish
- Almindelig pæleormDanish
- PfahlwurmGerman
- SchiffsbohrmuschelGerman
- SchiffsbohrwurmGerman
- taret communFrench
- קודחת-ספינותHebrew
- TeredineItalian
- フナクイムシJapanese
- 배좀벌레조개Korean
- paalwormDutch
- gewone paalwormDutch
- świdrak okrętowiecPolish
- ШашеньRussian
- hugáň lodnýSlovak
- Živi svederSlovenian
- skeppsmaskSwedish
- större skeppsmaskSwedish
- 船蛆蛤Chinese
Relatives of the great shipworm
Other species in the same genus Teredo.
Deep-cleft shipworm
Teredo furcifera
Puerto Rico shipworm
Teredo portoricensis
Bartsch shipworm
Teredo bartschi
Yellow-margin shipworm
Teredo fulleri
CompareGreat shipworm vs Deep-cleft shipwormGreat shipworm vs Puerto Rico shipwormGreat shipworm vs Bartsch shipwormGreat shipworm vs Yellow-margin shipworm
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the great shipworm?
The great shipworm is a mollusc in the class Bivalvia and the family Teredinidae.
What is the scientific name of the great shipworm?
Its scientific name is Teredo navalis, placed in the genus Teredo.
Who named the great shipworm and when?
The species was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
What other names does the great shipworm have?
It is also called shipworm, naval shipworm and common shipworm.
Which family does the great shipworm belong to?
It belongs to the family Teredinidae, in the subfamily Teredininae and the superfamily Pholadoidea.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Great shipworm (Teredo navalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-shipworm
“Great shipworm (Teredo navalis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-shipworm.
@misc{great_shipworm_2026,
title = {Great shipworm (Teredo navalis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-shipworm},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}