In the 17th century, the great shipworm was mentioned by the historian Pieter Cornelisz Hooft. He said that the animal was already seen in 1580 in the wooden dike piling of Zeeland. The great shipworm was (re)introduced in the 18th century via wooden ships and destroyed all wooden dike piling along the coast in a rapid tempo. One saw the arrival of this damaging animal as a punishment from God for the haughtiness, the mores-less behaviour and the extravagant enrichment of the Dutch population.
Nowadays, the worm is known for the damage it causes on ship wrecks in the Wadden Sea.
Certain kinds of tropical hardwood can withstand the great shipworm, other wood must be coated with copper or drenched in creosote oil in order to protect itself from the great shipworm. The great shipworm is still fairly common in pieces of (washed-up) wood.