Calyx nicaeensis Spugna Calice Goblet sponge www.intotheblue.it -2023-05-01-17h32m39s382
13
03:21

Calyx nicaeensis Goblet Sponge

I met this Calyx nicaeensis, Goblet Sponge, during a dive in the reefs of the Secche di Vada near Livorno. The name owes it to its characteristic goblet shape. According to some experts, this sponge has become extremely rare in the Mediterranean because it requires very stable water temperature and biological conditions: small variations are enough to decree its disappearance. We all know by now that climate change has a heavy impact on biological life, but few seem to realize that it also affects the deep sea.
T_European conger – Grongo – Conger conger – www.intotheblue.it-2023-09-05-20h45m23s530
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04:22

European conger

Common conger is a bony sea fish belonging to the Congridae family. Here we see it in its lair at a depth of about 52 metres, on a muddy seabed at the base of a beautiful vertical wall, even a few meters high, of rock and coral. As we see, the wall is colonized by many Mediterranean organisms such as sponges, corals and gorgonians, full of caves and ravines where these fish seek shelter during the day and food during the night. ...
T_Luria sea snail – Luria lurida – Ciprea Mediterranea-2023-08-22-16h41m46s397
15
02:14

Luria sea snail

Meeting Luria lurida is becoming more and more difficult, then finding the shell with the mollusc inside alive is practically a very rare event. In the video we obviously see the Cyprean shell without the animal but given the sheen of the shell this mollusk was probably recently eaten by some predator, probably the usual octopus. ...
T_Red scorpionfish – Scorpaena scrofa – Scorfano rosso – www.intotheblue.it-2023-06-26-14h50m24s850
21
05:50

Red scorpionfish

In this beautiful dive we met many specimens of Red scorpionfish, Scorpaena scrofa, and these that we see in the video are particularly large, almost a meter long. This species is typical of the Mediterranean Sea and we have met them at a depth of 52/53 meters in what would be their ideal habitat, i.e. the typical coralline seabed full of holes and ravines where Gorgonians and sponges thrive on which they settle perch waiting to launch some ambush to fish like the red damselfish.
T_Phorbas tenacior Blue Sponge Spugna incrostante blu www.intotheblue.it-2023-05-12-15h22m03s828
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10:43

Blue Sponge

Phorbas tenacior, Blue sponge is one of the first organisms to colonize new wrecks or any submerged vertical surface not yet colonized by marine organisms. In this video we see it on a wreck about 30 meters deep. Probably this wreck is quite recent, perhaps sunk between the first and second world wars, has several colonies of sponges including the blue encrusting sponge, which seems to prefer vertical walls away from direct sunlight. Obviously we also see it next to other species of sponges of the genus Tedania and Verongia but if we look at the part of the prow the presence of Phorbas tenacior ...
Spugna cornea Demosponge Porifera Demospongiae www.intotheblue.it -2021-11-26-18h23m18s099
13
02:22

Demosponge

Demosponges are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). Sponges, contrary to what one might think at first sight, are very simple multicellular animal organisms very similar in shape and appearance to plant organisms. There are no apparatus in the sponges and there is no trace of a nervous system.
Unknown marine organism – Organismo marino sconosciuto – www.intotheblue.it -2023-02-16-17h31m32s980
11
03:47

Unknown marine organism

During a scuba dive in a beautiful Mediterranean coral reef of Savalia savaglia and Paramuricea clavata, at a depth between 72 and 76 meters, I met this unknown marine organism for the first time. Curiosity prompted me to carry out a series of searches to understand precisely what I was dealing with. Research has not yielded a satisfactory answer. The questions I asked myself were many. Based on my experience of many years of scuba diving it could be an animal belonging to the phylum Prorifera.
vlcsnap-2021-01-08-15h31m37s034
13
02:46

Sea sponge Tedania anhelans

Tedania anhelans is a sea sponge that has an arborescent shape with colors that vary from transparent to light gray or dark gray depending on the conditions and depths of the environment in which it lives and personally I also add based on age: more pale in the juvenile phase or darker in the mature phase. It is present throughout the Mediterranean Sea at a depth ranging from 10 to over 100 meters on hard substrates, in rocky walls but also, as in our case, on Gorgonians and fishing nets abandoned for several years. In fact, the Tedania sponge reproduces very easily.
vlcsnap-2021-01-08-15h25m12s307
14
04:04

Elephant Ear Sponge

The Elephant Ear Sponge, (Spongia agaricina, Spongia lamella), resembles a relatively flat bowl. In the lower part it narrows, to form the point of attachment to the rock. The measure ranges from 14 to 80 cm in diameter with a thickness ranging from 1 to 4 cm approximately. It is an endemic species of the Mediterranean Sea that generally lives at depths between 15 and 50 meters, but we can find it up to 150 meters deep.
vlcsnap-2021-01-24-16h22m31s340
6
03:04

Common Antlers Sponge

The Axinella polypoides, is a species of sea sponge belonging to the Demospongiae class, family Axinellidae and at phylum Porifera. it's present throughout the Mediterranean Sea. It comes in the form of a sapling and lives at a depth ranging from 20 meters to over 300 meters.
vlcsnap-2021-06-21-19h50m43s040
24
21:31

Cave diving

We also went to visit an underwater cave. And like all caves it instills a certain charm and arouses a certain restlessness, and it is the same in the case of this submerged cave ...
vlcsnap-2021-01-24-16h16m51s852
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02:47

Common Antlers Sponge

Common Antlers Sponge, Axinella polypoides, is a species of sea sponge belonging to the Demospongiae class, family Axinellidae and at phylum Porifera. it's present throughout the Mediterranean Sea. ...
La spugna Barile – The giant Barrel sponge – Xestospongia muta – intotheblue.it-2020-01-11-16h13m02s519
7
01:08

Giant Barrel Sponge

Giant Barrel sponge (Xestospongia muta) is the largest species of sponge found growing on Carribean coral reefs. It is common at depths greater than 10 metres down to 120 metres and can reach a diameter of 1.8 metres. ...
La spugna Callyspongia Plicifera – The Azure Vase sponge – intotheblue.it – vlcsnap-2020-01-11-17h22m11s618
5
01:33

La Spugna Callyspongia Plicifera

Azure Vase sponge, is a species of sea sponge belonging to the Demospongiae class, family Callyspogiidae. This movie movie was made during a diving in the Carribean sea, in the coral reef of Cayo Largo, a small island in the Los Canarreos Archipelago ...