Lithophaga

{{Short description|Genus of bivalves}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|225.0|0.0}} Triassic to Recent

| image = Zelithophaga truncata.jpg

| image_upright = 0.7

| image_caption = One valve of a shell of Lithophaga truncata

| taxon = Lithophaga

| authority = Röding, 1798

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

| synonyms =

• Lithophagus Megerle von Mühlfeld, 1811
• Lithodomus Cuvier, 1816

| synonyms_ref={{cite worms

| id = 138220

| title = Lithophaga Röding, 1798

| author = Gofas, Serge

| year = 2004

}}

}}

Lithophaga, the date mussels, are a genus of medium-sized marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae. Some of the earliest fossil Lithophaga shells have been found in Mesozoic rocks from the Alps and from Vancouver Island.Ludvigsen, Rolf & Beard, Graham. 1997. West Coast Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Life of Vancouver Island. pg. 102Kleemann, K.H., 1994. Mytilid bivalve Lithophaga in Upper Triassic coral Pamiroseris from Zlambach Beds compared with Cretaceous Lithophaga alpina. Facies 30, 151–154.

The shells of species in this genus are long and narrow with parallel sides. The animals bore into stone or coral rock with the help of pallial gland secretions,"integument (mollusks)."Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD hence the systematic name Lithophaga, which means "stone-eater". Their club-shaped borings are given the trace fossil name Gastrochaenolites.