Marine Biology

Boring Organisms

Marine boring organisms are the in-faunal group of animals and some marine plants such as green, blu-green and red algae are known to have this boring habit. Animals form several phyla such as Porifera, Annelid, Arthropods, Mollusca and Echinodermata are adapted for this mode of life.

Generally the damage caused by the borers to the wooden structures is a worldwide problem and hence these are organisms are economically important ones. The occurrence of these boring organisms are mainly restricted to the sea and brackish water areas. The rapidity of attack depends upon local conditions and the kinds of borers present. Along the Pacific, Gulf, and South Atlantic Coasts of the United States, attack is rapid, and untreated pilings may be completely destroyed in a year or less.

Boring organisms are of different types based on the ability of the organisms to bore the different substratum. Generally borers are classified into wood borers, rock borers and coral reef borers. The damage caused by these boring organisms to the man-made structures placed in the marine environment are termed as bio-deterioration. The group of organisms involved in the boring mechanisms are belong to fungi, molluscs and crustaceans.