Vol. 33, pp. 69-70 July 24, 1920 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



A NEW SHIPWORM. 1 

 BY PAUL BARTSCH. 



The United States National Museum has received several 

 sendings of shipworms from Mr. A. Reyne, of the Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, at Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, 

 which prove to belong to an undescribed species. These mol- 

 lusks, Mr. Reyne states, destroy sluices built of greenheart 

 wood (Nectandra rodiaei Schomburgk) in a very short time. 

 This wood was believed to be immune to shipworm attacks, 

 and since I understand large quantities of greenheart timber 

 are used at the Canal Zone, which is not distant from Dutch 

 Guiana, it should prove of especial interest to us. The new 

 mollusk is so distinct from any of the known species of Teredo 

 that I shall assign it to a new subgenus which may be known as: 



Neoteredo, new subgenus. 



The characters which differentiate this subgenus from typical Teredo 

 are the sudden downward bending of the posterior edge of the median 

 portion of the shell, the very short posterior auricle which extends in- 

 ward to form a broad shelf for muscular attachment and a very short 

 broad blade which is far more posteriorly directed and has the flat side 

 almost at right angles in position, to that of typical Teredo. I take 

 pleasure in naming the type of the subgenus for its discoverer. It may 

 be known as: 



Teredo (Neoteredo) reynei, new species. 



Shell subglobular; exterior cream-yellow excepting the central portion 

 of the median part, which is dark brown gradually shading to light brown 

 posteriorly; interior bluish white. 

 Exterior : 



The anterior portion consists of an outer roughly grooved area at the 



1 Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 

 13 — Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. 33, 1920 (69) 



