Squared Biscuit Sea Star, from Ammouliani Island - 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 vote

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Marine life|Biscuit sea star from Ammouliani|Chalkidiki|Greece

Peltaster placenta (Müller & Troschel, 1842)

biscuit sea stars

Marine scientists have undertaken the difficult task of replacing the beloved starfish’s common name with sea star because,  the starfish is not a fish. It’s an echinoderm, closely related to sea urchins and sand dollars. Starfish is the common name for a group of animals called sea stars. Sea stars are actually part of the phylum echinoderm and are related to sea urchins, brittle stars and sea cucumbers – they are not fish at all! Sea stars play an important role in deep-sea ecosystems, especially as predators of sponges and corals.

References: National Geographic

seastar biscuit

There are some 2,000 species of sea star living in all the world’s oceans, from tropical habitats to the cold seafloor.  Biscuit Sea Stars are usually middle-sized sea stars with a characteristic double range of marginal plates bordering the disk and arms. Most of them have five arms, often short and triangular, around a broad central disc. Many species are pentagonal or subpentagonal, covered densely with granular, seed-like protuberances, hence the name of the family "seed-star" (gonium+aster). This distinctive bright orange-red sea star is called the Biscuit Sea Star because it is about the size of a large biscuit. biscuit sea starThe upper surface of the Biscuit Sea Star is covered with many interlocking small plates and six to eight larger plates along the edge of each of their short arms.The Biscuit Sea Star lives on intertidal rocky shores and in coastal waters to a depth of 40 m, feed on sea squirts, sponges, bryzoans and algae. 

Cardinal Fish What a Fantastic Father - 5.0 out of 5 based on 2 votes

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THE LOVE STORY OF THE CARDINAL FISH..

 

cardinal_fish_with_eggs

Did you know that the male cardinal fish, King of mullets , protects his eggs via carrying them in his mouth until they are hatched and release in the water..? It is not an easy job..Like the octopus mother that period he is vulnerable and unable to feed, because his mouth is a safe shelter for 20,000 eggs. What an indearing father!

 

cardinal fish

One fine day at the reef lady C was courting using all her charm possible and the male cardinal fish fell for it. She releases the eggs and he takes all of them to the last into the safety of his mouth.For about 20 days he will seclude himself to safer areas ,forgo eating ,and breath around a mouth full of living marbles. But he will never give up his babies ,oh no. When the eggs will hatch he will let them shelter in his mouth for an additional 6-10 days ,until they are ready to stand for their survival.

 

Eubranchus farrani sea slug from Greece - 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 vote

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eubranchus farrani

 

 New record of the rarely reported sea slug Eubranchus farrani (Alder & Hancock, 1844) (Mollusca, Gastropoda) from the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Photograph of Eubranchus farrani in Ammouliani Island (North Aegean Sea).

Eubranchus farrani is very variable in colour. It usually has a translucent white body, with orange tipped rhinophores and oral tentacles. The white inflated cerrata have conspicuous sub-terminal orange or yellow rings. Some colour variants show individual exaggeration of certain markings.

 

The sea slug was photographed by Yiannis Iliopoulos along the coasts of Ammouliani Island, Chalkidiki Peninsula, North Aegean Sea (40.3413379° Ν, 23.9145743° Ε) at Petalo 1 Dive Site.

What about Lobsters - 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 vote

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DID YOU KNOW THAT LOBSTERS ARE BIOLOGICALLY IMMORTAL?

spiny lobster

 

Spiny Lobster

Most animals eventually get old and die. But a few lucky species don't seem to feel the weight of time, and just keep going and going! Spiny lobsters are biologically immortal. They do die, but they don't seem to age. They can be killed by a predator, a disease, or a catastrophic change in the environment. But unlike humans, they rarely die simply because they get old.

 

European Lobster

 

European Lobster

 Lobsters, when they die, seem to die from external causes. They get fished by humans, eaten by seals, wasted by parasites, but they don't seem to die from within. Of course, no one really knows how the average lobster dies. There are no definitive studies.

 

New dive site in Halkidiki - 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 vote

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Just found..An unexplored deep blue diamond! A new dive site in Halkidiki!    

Saint George Dive Site

For all levels of divers

Being always there ,just a blink of an eye away So lucky after thousands of bars,we finally discover this underwater paradise. Having in mind our dear friends.. Our divers, hoping to find a new destination , we are sharing with you our excitement, for our just found dive site!!!!!!

Saint George Dive Site

 

 Starts from the very shallows, ideal for snorkeling, first level to 12m continue descending to 20m, ..30m.. 40meters.. It Drops down to 65meters, maybe more very easily. As we cross magnificent rocks and shallow canals, the view of the descending seabed can be stunning. Watching colorful rocks full of flower corals, tube, branching and massive sponges, sea slugs, mediterranean fish passing in front of our eyes.. Jacks,  sea breams, sea basses, wrasses, reef fish, scorpions e.t.c all live or pass on their way hunting!! Snake like bodies, mediterranean morays, european congers relax in the day time in their houses, watch us passing by, and let us admire of their natural beauty!!!