#teredinidae

Transition so nice, you do it twice! Shipworms begin their lives with both sets of reproductive organs; when they reach their adult stage they become fully male. At this stage they will release their sperm into the water, and then transition to female and brood fertilized eggs in their gills. After the eggs are released into the water, they will then transition back to male and start the process all over again. A shipworm may go through several cycles of transition between sexes over the course of their lives, which can span up to 3 years.

🪱 #InsertAnInvert2024

April Theme: Wormification

-Long and Limbless: Shipworm (Teredinidae)

-Long and Limbed: Giant Tube Worms (Riftia Pachyptila)

-Short and Limbless: Green Spoonworm (Bonellia Viridis)

-Short and Limbed: Horseshoe Worm (Phoronis Australis)

Can't believe its the worms that posed such a challenge for me! Such a wild month, it was so hard to choose what guys to do each week.

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Interested in learning more about the invertebrate animals around us? Join into the year-long InsertAnInvert event organized by Franzanth, where every week a new animal is spotlighted! Draw unique animals, read up on cool facts, or just follow the tag online to see a lot of cool artwork.

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Ever wanted to eat rocks? Then you might be Lithoredo abatanica! This species of shipworm is unusual in that it eats not wood, but rock- specifically limestone. They have special teeth which allow them to burrow into and finely grind the rock, and excrete it as sand.