The shipworm or Terero navalis is a pest. A species of wood-eating marine termite, in which it makes its home. Responsible for the destruction of ships, docks and underwater pilings, decanting the history of navigation through its tunnels, putting cities in check, or the Royal Navy in the 18th century.. Now scientists have just discovered that it is a superfood, and they invite us to eat them.

To do this, they have first given it a more commercial name: naked clams.. And a very nutritious cover letter. They taste like oysters, and their levels of vitamin B12, essential for the health of neurons and blood, are higher than those of most bivalves.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have begun to breed them, adding an algae-based compound to their wood diet, making the worms enriched with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.. Their results have just been published in the magazine Sustainable Agriculture.

“Naked clam aquaculture has never been attempted before. We grow them using wood that would otherwise end up in landfills or be recycled. They are rich in protein and very nutritious, and can be produced with a very low environmental impact,” says Dr.. David Willer, Henslow Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology and first author of the report.

Several specimens of naked clam. Plymouth University

These worms grow extraordinarily fast, faster than any other bivalve. They reach 30 centimeters in just six months. The reason is that they do not have a shell, but they do have a small shell at one end that barely grows, which allows them to dedicate all their energy to the growth of the body, unlike mussels or oysters, which can take two years to reach a height. harvestable size.

Teredo navalis is found in temperate and tropical seas and oceans around the world.. It is believed that it could have originated in the northeast of the Atlantic Ocean, but it is already difficult to establish it, due to its expansion throughout the world through any wooden debris or ship hull.. In 1730 he began to destroy the dikes that protected the Netherlands from flooding.. Shortly after, the Royal Navy had to cover the bottoms of its ships with copper to avoid being left without a fleet.. In 1920 it was already eating the docks of San Francisco Bay, in the Pacific Ocean.

No treatment can with it. Linseed oil, metallic paint, powdered glass, carbonization treatments and biocides such as chromated copper arsenate have been tried, and although the pest is partially mitigated, the worm always returns.. Perhaps its extermination in the oceans will come now when it is revealed as a super-seafood.

Researchers developed a completely closed aquaculture system. That in addition to eliminating the water quality and food safety problems that are often associated with the cultivation of mussels and oysters, allows them to be grown even in urban environments, far from the sea.

“We urgently need alternative food sources that provide the micronutrient-rich profile of meat and fish, but without the environmental cost they entail.. Our system offers a sustainable solution,” says Dr.. Reuben Shipway of the School of Biological and Marine Sciences at the University of Plymouth, author of the report. He added: “Switching from beef burgers to naked clam nuggets could be a fantastic way to reduce your carbon footprint.”. They can even be a substitute for “white meat” in processed foods like fish fingers and fish cakes.

Eating these worms has not, however, been an occurrence of British scientists. Shipworms have long been eaten in the Philippines, either raw, battered, or fried like squid.. On the plate it is not too different from a fried whitebait, or a squid tail.. In the end, we diners will be the ones who decide whether to put an end to a plague by eating it, making good that of Oscar Wilde: “I have simple tastes. “I am satisfied with the best.”