Gribble
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 Limnoria with eggs
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Limnoria |
A gribble is any of about 56 species of marine isopod from the family Limnoriidae. They are mostly pale white and small (1-4 mm long) crustaceans, although Limnoria stephenseni from subantarctic waters can reach 10 mm.
The term gribble was originally used for the wood-boring species, especially the first species described from Norway by Rathke in 1799, Limnoria lignorum. The Limnoriidae are now known to include seaweed and seagrass borers, as well as wood borers.
There are three genera, Paralimnoria (two species wood boring), Limnoria (about 28 species wood boring, 20 species algal boring, and 3 species seagrass boring) and Lynseia (3 species seagrass boring). Paralimnoria occurs in the tropics, and has the most plesiomorphic characters. Lynseia are so far known only from Australia, while Limnoria has species in most seas. Those gribbles able to bore into living marine plants are thought to have evolved from a wood (dead plant) boring species.
Gribbles bore into wood and plant material for ingestion as food. The cellulose of wood is digested, most likely with the aid of cellulases produced by the gribbles themselves. The most destructive species are Limnoria lignorum, L. tripunctata and L. quadripunctata.
