The Mahogany Date Mussel
The Mahogany Date Mussel, Lithophaga bisulcata (d’Orbigny, 1853) is a rock-boring species, found in calcium carbonate substrates such as live or dead coral and other mollusk shells. The Date Mussel bores into the soft rock using special calcium carbonate-dissolving enzymes that are secreted from the anterior (blunt) end of the animal. The species typically has an elongate, thin-walled, cylindrical shell, which is tapered at its posterior end. A line divides the surface of eac