Deat Andrew
 
I hope you understood me uite well. I didn't think in sense of
to make holes in sense of preying, as Naticidae will do, I
thought on small small boring holes as sponges or other
vermins will make: So the surface of a shell is dotted with
thousands of black dots.
This is what I mean.
Hope to hear from you later
yours Helmut
 
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>
> Helmut Nisters writes,
> "I think the word should named "vermivorius" as carnivor means eating meat
> and herbivor means eating plants and so on (vegeterian). vorius means
> eating and worm or vermi means a worm. As it might be a rarely used term I
> think you can't find it any dictionary, but you can guess it.
> So I think the right word will be "vermivorius" in English.
> But maybe there are holes caused of worms or some sponge, as old and large
> shells of Conus pulcher like to have, you should create another word. My
> English is not so goot that I can give you more informations for guessing
> and thinking."
>
> Helmut, the general word in English for a hole made by an animal is a
> "boring," and the animals are said to "bore" holes. Most borers excavate
> holes to create a home, not to prey on others. In the special case of
> gastropods or octopods that prey on mollusks and other animals, the
> activity is called "drilling" and the holes are "drillholes." Gastropod
> drillholes are generally circular to oval in outline, and cylindrical to
> parabolic in overall form. Octopus drillholes tend to be rather irregular,
> and in most places are much less common than gastropod drillholes. Several
> groups of gastropods drill their prey, but the naticids are especially well
> documented in the literature (German and English). Fossil specimens of
> drilled shells are common in Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks.
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg
> Geological Survey of Alabama
>