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The shipworms, also called Teredo worms or simply Teredo 'wood-worm', via Latin terēdō), are marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae, a group of saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies. They are notorious for boring into (and commonly eventually destroying) wood that is immersed in seawater, including such structures as wooden piers, docks, and ships; they drill passages by means of a pair of very small shells ("valves") borne at one end, with which they rasp their way through. They are sometimes called "termites of the sea". Carl Linnaeus assigned the common name Teredo to the best-known genus of shipworms in the 10th edition of his taxonomic magnum opus, Systema Naturæ (1758). Removed from its burrow, the fully grown teredo ranges from several centimeters to about a meter in length, depending on the species. An average adult shipworm measures 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) in length and less than one-quarter inch (6.4 mm) in diameter, but some species grow to considerable size. The body is cylindrical, slender, naked, and superficially vermiform (worm-shaped). In spite of their slender, worm-like forms, shipworms possess the characteristic morphology of bivalves. The ctinidia lie mainly within the branchial siphon, through which the animal pumps the water that passes over the gills.

Source: Wikipedia