On the occasion of the final workshop of Spoke 2 of the National Biodiversity Future Centre, screening of the unreleased documentary by Roberto Rinaldi (GG Production) dedicated to the Strait of Messina, a biodiversity hotspot.
From the flathead shark to deep-sea fishes, from kelp forests to actual submerged reefs… among the protagonists, Errina aspera stands out, a colonial hydrozoan of the Stylasteridae family, of which it is the only representative in the Mediterranean. Listed in the CITES Convention, the SPA/BIO Protocol of the Barcelona Convention and the Bern Convention, it is a species of great ecological importance.
The filming involved a team of experts in deep-sea diving among the currents of the Strait, during which it was possible to collect samples of Errina aspera for the first time and keep them alive in the tanks at the CRIMAC – Centre for Advanced Marine Research and Infrastructure in Calabria.
The specimens are the subject of ongoing multidisciplinary research, which will provide important information on the physiology of the species and its ability to adapt to climate change.
The results of the study make a key contribution to our understanding of the biodiversity of habitats of high ecological value and thus to the achievement of the scientific objectives of Spoke 2 NBFC – National Biodiversity Future Centre.
