Commercial timbers from Turkey used in coastal construction and boat building were tested for their resistance to marine wood-boring invertebrates in a marine trial and in a laboratory screening test. The timbers tested were beech (Fagus orientalis), oak (Quercus petraea), chestnut (Castanea sativa) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). The marine trial was conducted over a period of 5 months at Mersin on the southern (Mediterranean) coast of Turkey. Activity by teredinid (Mollusca, Bivalvia) borers over this period was very high, resulting in the maximum ratings of 4 on the EN275 scale for Pinus sapwood and heartwood panels. Quercus panels averaged 2.8 and Castanea panels were the least heavily attacked with a mean rating of 2.3. There was little variation between the timbers tested in the size of the shells of teredinids found, so the variation in level of attack can be ascribed to fewer animals colonising Castanea and Quercus than Pinus. Approximately one half of the teredinids identified were Bankia carinata, one quarter Teredo navalis and one quarter Nototeredo norvagica. No evidence of preference for a particular timber by any of these species was found. Some attack by limnoriids (Isopoda, Crustacea) was also detected. Specimens of the amphipod crustacean Chelura was found on panels of Castanea. In a laboratory screening trial in which the feeding rate of individual Limnoria quadripunctata was assessed by measuring faecal pellet production, feeding on heartwood of Castanea, Fagus and Quercus averaged less than half of that on the non-durable sapwood and heartwood of Pinus. The correlation between density and feeding rate was weak.

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