DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE CARIBBEAN CORAL- AND ROCK-BORING BIVALVE,LITHOPHAGA BISULCATA (d'ORBIGNY) (MYTILIDAE: LITHOPHAGINAE)

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Abstract
Lithophaga bisulcata is the most common Caribbean and Atlantic lithophagine and is the only species of the genus known to occur frequently in both living and dead coral. The abundance in living corals is non-random and variable. Most common hosts are Siderasterea siderea and Stephanocoenia michelini. The bivalves are more abundant in their preferred hosts than in dead coral. Individuals from the two habitats are indistinguishable in shell shape, musculature and size of boring and posterior pallia! glands, indicating a single population. Boreholes differ in the two habitats with respect to size and lining. Linings are formed at the “inactive” end of the burrow; therefore living coral inhabitants line the anterior end of the burrow and dead coral borers line the posterior end. Recruitment rates are unknown in dead coral but were very low in living coral