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A gribble () or gribble worm is any of about 56 species of marine Isopoda from the family Limnoriidae. They are mostly pale white and small ( long) , although Limnoria stephenseni from subantarctic waters can reach .
Gribbles play an ecologically important role by helping to degrade and recycle driftwood. Most seaweed-boring gribbles attack holdfasts which can cause the seaweed to come adrift especially during . For example, Limnoria segnis and L. stephenseni inhabit the holdfasts of Durvillaea antarctica and other species of Durvillaea; these isopods have rafted thousands of kilometres across the Southern Ocean inside of these holdfasts.
For defence, gribbles can jam themselves within their burrows using their and block the tunnel with their rear disc-shaped segment, the pleotelson, an example of phragmosis.
A number of crustaceans have evolved as with Limnoriidae. Species of Chelura are Amphipoda that inhabit the more severely attacked regions of gribble-attacked wood. Donsiella are tiny that inhabit the brood pouch and body of Limnoriidae.
It has been suggested that the used by Limnoriidae to break down wood may be useful for producing sugar from non-food biomass, such as wood or straw, in a sustainable way. This could then be used to produce . "Enzymes produced by the tiny creatures are able to break down woody cellulose and turn it into energy-rich sugars meaning that gribble could convert wood and straw into liquid biofuel." One particular enzyme produced in the gribble's hepatopancreas and secreted into its gut has recently been identified and characterized: the GH7 Cellulase, LqCel7B. This enzyme has been shown to be highly effective in a saline environment such as that in which the gribble lives.
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