Abstract

This study provides the first comprehensive survey of wood-boring bivalves from the family Teredinidae in Venezuelan coastal waters. Surveys were carried out between 2004 and 2014 and a total of fifteen species from seven genera are reported, including three new records for Venezuelan coastal waters (Teredo johnsoni, Lyrodus bipartitus) and one new record for the Caribbean Sea (Nausitora dunlopei). A previously reported species (Bankia martensi), typically thought to be restricted to cooler southern waters, was not found in this extensive survey and is highlighted as an incorrect record and species misidentification. The diversity of wood-boring bivalves in Venezuelan waters represents one of the highest diversities outside the Indo-Pacific region. Descriptive information for each species is provided, including taxonomic and/or ecological notes. In addition, images of the pallets - the primary taxonomic character for species identification - are provided and compared with specimens from malacological collection at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) to corroborate identification.