Pink goosebump sponge (Lat. Dysidea avara). It is sessile, tropical, massive a violet-colored, encrusting and heavily conulated dictyoceratid sponge. It is a Mediterranean species, similar to the common Dysidea fragilis, but with a coarser surface, with higher conules, placed further apart. Members of the class Demospongiae are hermaphroditic. Life cycle: The zygote develops into parenchymella larva (free-swimming) before settling down on…
Red sea squirt (Lat. Halocynthia papillosa). It lives attached to rocks, overhangs or among Posidonia, avoiding luminous areas, between 2 and 100 meters deep. It is usually 10 cm high, but may reach 20 cm. It belongs to the chordates because in the developmental stage the larvae have a chord. The body is ovoïd, the red test is cartilaginous, rough with a granulous surface. They…
Mediterranean red sea star (Lat. Echinaster sepositus). It is found at depths of 1 to 250 m (3–820 ft) in a wide range of habitats, including rocky, sandy and muddy bottoms, and sea grass meadows. It has five relatively slender arms around a small central disc. It usually has a diameter of up to 20 cm (8 in), but can exceptionally reach up to 30 cm (12 in). It…
Mediterranean rainbow wrasse (Lat. Coris julis). Coastal and benthic species, leaves above sandy and gravel bottom and in meadows of Posidonia sp. Leaves to depth of 100 m, but common at depths ranging from about 1-60 m. Grows to 25 cm, common 10-20 cm. Feeds on sea urchins, molluscs, crabs and worms. Like many wrasses, It is a sequential hermaphrodite: all start in the…
Ornate wrasse (Lat. Thalassoma pavo). It lives on rocky beds with growths of algae and marine meadows, from surface waters to depths of 50 m. It can reach 25 cm (9.8 in) in lenght, though most do not exceed 20 cm (7.9 in). The females are greenish-brown with thin transversal streaks and five transversal blue bands. The males are yellowy-green with the same vertical streaks and a single…
Annular sea bream (Lat. Diplodus annularis). A coastal species that lives above the sandy and muddy bottom in shoals, less often rocky, and in seagrass meadows. It sets to a depth of 90 m and grows up to 24 cm (0.37 kg), usually 8-15 cm. The colour, bright silvery with a slight tendency to the yellow, gets more intense in…
