Virovore: Creature that eats virus

A virovore is a creature that consumes viruses. The name virivore (equivalently, virovore) derives from the Latin word ‘vorare’, which means to eat or devour, and the English prefix viro-, which means virus and it is a translation of the Latin word for poison. Virivory, in which organisms, predominantly heterotrophic protists but also some metazoans, consume viruses, is a well-described process (González and Suttle, 1993).

Viruses may lyse bacteria and liberate nutrients (i.e., the viral shunt), they are regarded as a top predator in marine ecosystems. Additionally, viruses are crucial for structuring microbial trophic interactions and controlling carbon transport (Welsh et al., 2020).