A European project will save the largest mollusk in the Mediterranean: Pinna nobilis. This giant, also known as the noble pen shell or fan mussel, can reach up to 120 cm in length and live up to 45 years; it is the largest bivalve in our sea.
The noble pen shell is an exclusive organism of the Mediterranean marine fauna and has an extensive history: it has existed for 20 million years, and its long and resilient filaments – the so-called ‘byssus’ – were used by the Babylonians, Phoenicians, and Greeks to weave fine clothing for the noble classes.
Affected in 2016 by a mysterious disease, which has greatly reduced its populations, in 2019 it was added to the IUCN Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as a critically endangered species.
Now, thanks to the LifePinna Project, there will be an attempt for the first time to breed it in captivity to repopulate the seabeds of four Italian regions (Liguria, Sardinia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Tuscany) and one Slovenian region (Littoral-Karst). Read the full article on Focus
Source: Focus, online