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We are on an isolated patch of rock and coralligenous about 7.5 miles from the coast; the seabed varies from 49 to 52 meters, the area to explore has a surface area of about a couple of basketball courts (about 600 square meters X 2). All around a sea of mud and a mixture of mud/sand separates us from the main submerged reef 400/500 meters away, always on the bathymetric of 50 meters.
Biodiversity – Biodiversità – www.intotheblue.it – Gorgonia rossa – Paramuricea clavata
We have already talked about these isolated patches that practically constitute real ecological niches of biodiversity. Precisely because they are isolated, small, and are detached by a few meters from the muddy seabed, they are still unknown to fishermen and at least for the moment they are saved from trawling and from the fishermen’s trammel nets. As you can see from the video, this patch is free of ghost nets, lost trammel nets, abandoned lines and filaments.
in about 20 minutes of diving we filmed several marine species of fish, sponges, gorgonians, nudibranchs and echinoderms, all in the same habitat and ecosystem.
Biodiversity – Biodiversità – www.intotheblue.it – Stella gorgone, Astrospartos Astrospartus mediterraneus
The first species encountered as soon as we arrived at the bottom is the Basket star, Astrospartos Astrospartus mediterraneus, rather rare in the Mediterranean Sea, however quite widespread in the seabeds that we frequent, in this area we find it practically everywhere even far from the Red Gorgonia, Paramuricea clavata, with which it lives in a sort of symbiosis.
Once we arrived on the rock and the coralligenous the Red fish Anthias anthias, guardian of the submerged reefs from 40 meters onwards, comes towards us as soon as it senses our presence and present in numerous specimens follows us throughout the dive.
Biodiversity – Biodiversità – www.intotheblue.it – Anthias anthias
At the center of the patch we encountered various species of corals, gorgonians and bryozoans: the aforementioned Red Gorgonia, Paramuricea clavata, present in not very high but rather flourishing branches. The Yellow Gorgonia, Eunicella cavolinii, very common in the Mediterranean Sea and here we see it in isolated branches among the red gorgonia.
Gorgonia gialla Eunicella cavolinii e Gorgonia rossa Paramuricea clavata
False Coral, Myriapora truncata or “Coral of the Florentines”, often mistaken for the more precious Red Coral (Corallium rubrum). The False Coral is in fact a totally different species belonging to the bryozoan family; present practically everywhere we direct the camera together with the sponges of the genus verongia.
Biodiversity – Biodiversità – www.intotheblue.it – Falso corallo Myriapora truncata e Scorfano rosso Scorpaena scrofa
Alongside these organisms we also encountered the Sea Cowfish, Peltodoris atromaculata, during our dives we often find it in one or two specimens at most, in this dive we saw five or six all of different sizes.
Biodiversity – Biodiversità – www.intotheblue.it – Gorgonia rossa – Vacchetta di mare Peltodoris atromaculata
The area is also populated by fish such as breams, wrasses and the inevitable red scorpionfish, Scorpaena scrofa, of which we encountered several large and small specimens, hidden among the gorgonians and coralligenous algae, which we bothered but only and exclusively to film them with the cameras trying to make them move to an area where our torches could capture their colors.
Biodiversity – Biodiversità – www.intotheblue.it – Gorgonia rossa – Paramuricea clavata – Scorfano rosso Scorpaena scrofa
Biological diversity or biodiversity, in ecology, is the variety of living organisms in their different forms, and in their respective ecosystems; biodiversity within a given environment means precisely the variety of living organisms present in it.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversit%C3%A0
The Mediterranean Sea with a surface area of 2,969,000 square kilometers represents only 0.82% of the total surface area of the seas and oceans, but it hosts a variety of living forms that elect it as one of the “hotspots” of biodiversity.
The latest estimates of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean indicate the presence of approximately 17,000 species. Depending on the taxonomic groups, the biodiversity of the Mediterranean represents from 4 to 25% of the global marine species diversity. The Mediterranean contains approximately 7.5% of the world’s species in a surface area of 0.82%. It can therefore be deduced that the species richness per area is approximately 10 times higher than the world average.
In this summary of a common dive of approximately 20 minutes we tried to film as many species as possible, in fact our ecosystems are more prosperous and therefore healthy, the greater the biodiversity present in them. Preserving biodiversity therefore means not only preserving our planet but also preserving our presence on Earth.
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