Gorgonia rossa - Paramuricea clavata
Gorgonia Rossa Paramuricea Clavata Red Gorgonia cnidari cnidarian
Description
It looks like a treelike formation with dense ramifications of dark red color, which fans form that can reach sizes of up to a meter in height. The terminal branches, claviform, are sometimes of yellow color. The skeleton is protein; the surface presents calcareous spicules that serve as shelter for polyps, retractable.
The colonies have the appearance of a real submerged wood, between the branches of which develops a remarkable biodiversity, it consists of every sort fish and invertebrates. Gorgonia Rossa Paramuricea Clavata Red Gorgonia cnidari cnidarian
Distribution and habitat
It is a typical species of the Mediterranean Sea where populates rocky bottoms usually deep from 25-30 to over 100 meters, placing the emphasis on little crevices reached by the light. It is in fact a kind sciaphilous, that lover of twilight.
Storage
The IUCN Red List classifies Paramuricea clavata as a vulnerable species. In the past, red gorgonian colonies were very numerous, today we are witnessing their decline throughout the Mediterranean, especially in surface waters as a result of water heating. Other factors that threaten its survival are the indiscriminate collection by divers, and the damage inflicted by trawling. It is a very fragile and very slow growing species. By virtue of these characteristics it is considered a biological indicator of the balance of the marine ecosystem.
Gallery
Video Gallery
Red Scorpionfish of Mediterranean Sea on Violescent sea-whip
