Larval shipworm settlement

Shipworm larvae, only a few days old, start burrowing into wood that will be their food, shelter and prison for their lives.

By gripping the wood with their foot, they can press their shells tightly against the surface, then rasp it by opening the shell valves. Siphons have already appeared and are used for respiratory purposes.

Of note is the larval shell, which is golden brown, with black areas denoting its edges. New (calcified) shell growth can be seen on the outside rim of the shell, as well as the appearance of sharp teeth on the anterior surfaces of the shell.

Other things of interest:
1:25 Shell moves back, revealing sharp teeth on anterior surface. New shell growth can also be seen very clearly along the edges of the larval shell.
2:49 Larva has its ciliated velar lobe (swimming apparatus) deployed, but retracts it soon afterwards
3:02 Siphons can be clearly seen 'pulsing', possibly to create water flow into gills timed with shell closure.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• shipworm
• mollusc
• larvae
• teredo

[MyPoseidonSciences]

This is a rare video clip of such an elusive clam. Nice one. We started working on Teredo and by luck found one in the process of burrowing and already a mm into the wood. See it in myposeidonsciences on youtube as well. Perhaps someone can find a larger one in more advanced burrowing stage. It will make a good series of videos to illustrate the tunneling process. Many thanks for a great view of the settlement.

[ColdPlayerBR]

Hey! Great video, I'm going to use it on my seminar about wood eating Pelecypoda.

(Sorry about the bad english =P)

[siants4senair]

oh...OH!!! somethings happening!!.....false alarm...

[Kiter5Mom]

my son is learning about mollusks in school and this was the animal he studies today. He really liked being able to see the different things he learned (siphons, the foot', etc..)

THANKS!

[dlindeman]

Good video. How did you collect the larva? Anything special? You can compress the movie into a time lapse with the image ready program from adobe .Good job mate.

[TomSensive]

It´s pretty good, but I want to see how it digs a hole in to the wood... that would be amazing!

[bajocolinas]

Amazing! With more knowledge, just maybe we can turn the tide some. Thanks.