Editing Shipworm (section)

== Habitat ==

''[[Teredo navalis]]'' are a cosmopolitan species that can be found both in the [[Atlantic]] and [[Pacific]] oceans.<ref name="Nobanis">{{cite web |last1=Didžiulis |first1=Viktoras |website=Nobanis |title=Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet – ''Teredo navalis'' |url=https://www.nobanis.org/globalassets/speciesinfo/t/teredo-navalis/teredo_navalis.pdf |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref> Since they occupy wooden [[Flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict|flotsam]] and natural [[driftwood]] such as dead tree trunks, they are spread as the wood is carried by currents. They also travel inside the wooden-hulled vessels that help increase their spread worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Castagna |first1=Michael |title=Shipworms and Other Marine Borers |url=https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy-pdfs/leaflet505.pdf |website=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |publisher=United States Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Bureau of Commercial Fisheries |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref> However, the origin of ''T. navalis'' remains uncertain due to the widespread usage of [[ships]] in [[Maritime trade|global trade]] and the resulting spreading of shipworms.<ref name="Teredo navalis">{{cite web |last1=Ho |first1=Maggie |title=''Teredo navalis'' |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Teredo_navalis/#D8BFE597-9172-4025-8269-617B480D59B7 |website=Marine Invasions Research at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref>

During the free-living [[larva]] stage, the species colonizes new habitats and spreads. Larvae are extremely sensitive to the presence of wood and will take advantage of any opportunity to attach to and penetrate wooden structures. In the [[Baltic Sea]], free-floating piles carved by shipworms can be observed floating hundreds of kilometers away from the original wooden structures. The limiting element for propagation is [[salinity]], which must be greater than 8% for successful reproduction. Consequently, [[freshwater]] is deadly to these [[invertebrates]].<ref name="Nobanis" /> Reproduction occurs during warm [[summer]] months, and the larvae [[Sexual maturity|mature for production]] in just eight weeks. Each year, several [[Biological life cycle|generations]] can be produced. Their ideal temperature range is {{cvt|15|to|25|C|F|round=5}} and therefore ''T. navalis'' can be found in temperate and tropical zones.<ref name="Teredo navalis"/>

The shipworm lives in waters with [[oceanic salinity]]. Accordingly, it is rare in the [[brackish]] Baltic Sea, where wooden [[shipwreck]]s are preserved for much longer than in the oceans.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://sciencenordic.com/historic-shipwrecks-could-be-preserved-antarctic|title=Historic shipwrecks could be preserved in the Antarctic|work=ScienceNordic|access-date=2017-02-28|language=en|archive-date=2017-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228084157/http://sciencenordic.com/historic-shipwrecks-could-be-preserved-antarctic|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The range of various species has changed over time based on human activity. Many waters in developed countries that had been plagued by shipworms were cleared of them by [[Water pollution|pollution]] from the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the modern era; as environmental regulation led to cleaner waters, shipworms have returned.<ref name=Smithsonian2016/>  [[Climate change]] has also changed the range of species; some once found only in warmer and more salty waters like the [[Caribbean]] have established habitats in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]].<ref name=Smithsonian2016/>