Shells with holes - ID both shell and animal that made them

[paul monfils]

Hi.  Good pictures!  #1 is, as you said, an oyster, the Common Atlantic Oyster or Virginia Oyster, Crassostrea virginica.  The rest of them are pieces of the Atlantic Quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria, as you said, a clam.  #1 and #4 are very typical examples of damage from the boring sponge, Cliona celata.  #5 and #6 I believe show more advanced Cliona damage, but I think there may be other borings present as well, probably from annelid worms.  #2 and #3 do not look typical of Cliona damage and I think the damage on these looks more like worm borings.  <span class="petit">--Last edited by Paul Monfils on 2009-10-07 21:08:42 --</span>