Sandy bottom delights

This time we were looking for sea horses but instead we found rays, many many rays!
The sandy bottom realm sounds quite boring, divers stay well away of it, but the sandy bottom hosts an array of very interesting and beautiful inhabitants. Today we present the skate/ray Raja radula,one of the most common rays of the Mediterranean,with some evidence towards its endemism in the area, as the specimens found off the Atlantic could have been misidentified with other similar species, not very hard to do with these rays.
This ray is completely harmless to humans, it has no thorn, like the sting rays and no electricity like the torpedo rays, however the skin around the tail is quite rough, hence its common name, rough ray.
This fish inhabits shallow water until the depths of 300 meters,and this particular specimen was photographed in Stratoni at the depth of 10 meters.All in all, on a 50 minute dive, we spotted 4 animals laying on the sandy sea bottom.
They prefer to eat any type of bottom animals, making Stratoni a haven of food for them!
They are oviparous, laying oblong egg capsules with stiff pointy horns on the ends (mermaid purses). About 80-154 eggs are laid by an individual in a year. Because of insufficient data on their populations it is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List.

Santa gifts.

Santa gifts sometimes are real extraordinary. You can find them inside your camera’s memory stick with no explanation how they exist there. This photo is this kind of gift.
It is something completely unusual because I have seen a lot of pictures with S.saurus bite so big victims to his jaws. But this is not a S.saurus it is a Trachinus radiatus which has a much smaller mouth than S.saurus. And the most impressive is that the victim is not a small Sparidae fish or a C.chromis but a juvenile of the family Rajidae!!! Most of the times that I don’t take a nice picture of an interest subject I think “next time will be better”. Unfortunately for this subject I don’t think that will be a next time. But who cares? The sure is that sea will always impress me with the strange behaviours of her habitants and if the sea wants we will be there for a lot of years inform you for all the strangeness of the Eastern Mediterranean Inhabitants.

Have a nice new year with a lot and wonderful dives!
May the next year be fairer for marine animals?

The dream team!

The list that follows shows the Sharks species of Mediterranean (Superorder Selachimorpha) and their IUCN Red list status.
Hexanchiformes
1)Heptranchias perlo Near Threatened
2)Hexanchus griseus Lower Risk Near Threatened
3)Hexanchus nakamurai Not evaluated
Squaliformes
4)Echinorhinus brucus Data Deficient
5)Squalus acanthias Vulnerable
6)Squalus blainville Not evaluated
7)Centrophorus granulosus Vulnerable
8)Squalus uyato Not evaluated
9)Etmopterus spinax Not evaluated
10)Centroscymnus coelolepi Near Threatened
11)Somniosus rostratus Not evaluated
12)Oxynotus centrina Vulnerable
13)Dalatias licha Data Deficient
Squatiniformes
14)Squatina aculeata Critically endangered
15)Squatina oculata Critically endangered
16)Squatina squatina Critically endangered
Lamniformes
17)Carcharias Taurus Vulnerable
18)Odontaspis ferox Data Deficient
19)Alopias supercilious Not evaluated
20)Alopias vulpinus Data Deficient
21)Cetorhinus maximus Vulnerable
22)Carcharodon carcharias Vulnerable
23)Isurus oxyrinchus Lower Risk Near Threatened
24)Isurus paucus Vulnerable
25)Lamna nasus Vulnerable
Carcharhiniformes
26)Scyliorhinus stellaris Not evaluated
27)Scyliorhinus canicula Not evaluated
28)Galeus atlanticus Near Threatened
29)Galeus melastomus Not evaluated
30)Galeorhinus galeus Vulnerable
31)Mustelus asterias Lower Risk Least Concern
32)Mustelus mustelus Lower Risk Least Concern
33)Mustelus punctulatus Not evaluated
34)Carcharhinus altimus Not evaluated
35)Carcharhinus brachyurus Near Threatened
36)Carcharhinus brevipinna Lower Risk Near Threatened
37)Carcharhinus falciformis Lower Risk Least Concern
38)Carcharhinus limbatus Lower Risk Near Threatened
39)Carcharhinus melanopterus Lower Risk Near Threatened
40)Carcharhinus obscurus Lower Risk Near Threatened
41)Carcharhinus plumbeus Lower Risk Near Threatened
42)Carcharhinus longimanus Vulnerable
43)Prionace glauca Lower Risk Near Threatened
44)Sphyrna lewini Lower Risk Near Threatened
45)Sphyrna zygaena Lower Risk Near Threatened
46)Sphyrna tudes Vulnerable
47)Sphyrna mokarran Endangered
Pristiformes
48)Pristis pectinata Critically endangered
49)Pristis pristis Critically endangered

Have you hugged a shark today?

Shark week has started, from the 10th until the 18th of October, people across Europe are speaking out for sharks.
The top predator of our seas has been around before the dinosaurs, but sadly now some species like the Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus, not dangerous) are in danger of extinction.
A new report by the IUCN shows that 40% of the shark species in the Med, are threatened by extinction, making this Basin the most dangerous place if you are a shark. For many species there is insufficient data about their populations.
In Greece the lack of ANY data could possibly mean that some have disappeared without us ever knowing.
Sharks and rays are, for me, the most impressive marine life that I have encountered so far, and none of my interactions have been menacing, although I was lucky enough to see some of the more dangerous species. Until now the only sharks I have seen in Greece, have been dead, or alive and then brutally murdered just because it was a shark and it deserved to die, as it is "dangerous". This picture was from one such occurrence in Paros, Greece (photos by Makis Terzis), of a Thresher Shark (not dangerous, unless provoked). He came out to the shallows where the people hauled him on shore and cut him up.
The depletion of sharks from our seas may cause unpredictable changes in the ecosystem, including loss of biodiversity and probable depletion of other fish stocks.
If you care even slightly about the future of our seas, please don't consume any shark products and inform yourself on the matter, sharks are NOT the stereotype you know.
"Have you hugged a shark today?" is a metaphorical statement!
sharks may be dangerous and unpredictable, do not attempt to hug or touch them ;)
Just respect and protect them.

In the Greek language we call this fish alepou (αλεπού της θάλασσας) which means fox. This word, alepou, gave its name to the family, Alopiidae.

Butterfly flying over me

on a very cloudy day, the visibility was 5 meters max, and the prospects of the dive were grim..
that's when this beautiful ray flew by me and landed 5 meters below on the silty bottom.
It was 1 meter long from wing to wing.
The picture was taken at a depth of 35 meters, so along with the bad visibility and the photographers shock, it came out quite dark.
This Widewing butterfly ray can reach 2 meters wing span, it likes to feed on small fish and molluscs, along sandy or muddy bottoms. It is an ovoviviparous ray and the 4-7 embryos are born all ready equipped with two tail spines.The species has been reported as grunting loudly with the sudden explusion of air while lying on deck after capture :( This animal is so amazingly beautiful and suprisingly strong for its gracefulness, I hope all of you see it alive in the sea and never grunting out air on the surface as it struggles for its life...
This encounter happened in Pilion, at 33m