shipworm
Wooden boat destroyer
A shipworm is a marine bivalve mollusk that burrows into submerged wood, causing extensive damage to wooden ships, piers, and pilings.
Despite the name, shipworms are clams, not worms—their soft, elongated bodies simply look worm-like.
They were a major hazard in the age of wooden ships: The hull was riddled with shipworms.
Sand-dwelling hinged shellfish
- musselEdible two-shelled mollusk
- oysterPearl-bearing edible mollusk
- molluskSoft-bodied invertebrate, often shelled
- valveFluid flow controller
siphon · shell · pallets · soft-bodied · gills · mantle · invertebrate · shellfish
Outer covering or frame
- plankingWooden boards collectively
- vesselReceptacle for contents
- woodenMade from timber
- carvelFlush-planked hull style
cladding · keel · bottom · caulking · drydock · careening · antifouling · maritime
Failing to engage interest
- tunnelingDigging underground passages
- galleriesSpaces for displaying art
- perforationHole punched through something
- penetrationEntry into something
excavation · woodboring · honeycomb · channels · infestation · riddling · burrow · drilling
Wood for construction
- damageHarm or impairment
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- rotOrganic breakdown process
degradation · infestation · hull · pilings · wharves · docks · fouling · destruction
clam
Sand-dwelling hinged shellfish
- musselEdible two-shelled mollusk
- oysterPearl-bearing edible mollusk
- molluskSoft-bodied invertebrate, often shelled
valve · siphon · shell · pallets · soft-bodied · gills · mantle · invertebrate · shellfish
hull
Outer covering or frame
carvel · cladding · keel · bottom · caulking · drydock · careening · antifouling · maritime · seafaring
boring
Failing to engage interest
- tunnelingDigging underground passages
- galleriesSpaces for displaying art
- perforationHole punched through something
penetration · excavation · woodboring · honeycomb · channels · infestation · riddling · burrow · drilling · ingress
timber
Wood for construction
- damageHarm or impairment
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
rot · degradation · infestation · hull · pilings · wharves · docks · fouling · destruction · ruin
- bivalvesclams, clam, mussels, scallops, mussel
- invasive speciesinvasive species, lionfish, emerald ash borer, noxious weeds, kudzu
- wood peststermites, termite, wood-boring beetles, carpenter ants, carpenter ant
- biofoulersbarnacle, mussel, biofilm, bryozoan, zebra mussel
- boring insectsbark beetle, longhorn beetle, horntail, deathwatch beetle, termite
- boring mollusks
shipwormearthworm
Segmented soil-dwelling invertebrate
ragworm · lugworm · polychaete · annelid · tubeworm
shipwormshipwright
Vessel construction craftsman
shipbuilder · ship's carpenter · caulker · marine engineer · dry dock