Site 14 - Punta Sottile

On the western side of the island, near the lighthouse and at the southern side of Punta Sottile, it is possible to make an interesting path from the naturalistic point of view, which develops between 12 and 30 m deep, where the seabed is characterized by vertical rock walls. On the well lit portions dominates the algal cover alternating with extensions of Posidonia oceanica: among its fronds you can see the hedgehog with white spines (Sphaerechinus granularis), the star Hacelia attenuata, the octopus (Octopus vulgaris), and the moray eel (Muraena helena). Proceeding along the seabed you can see a large specimen of gray sponge (Ircinia variabilis). The wall below houses the yellow gorgonia (Eunicella cavolinii) and large fans of the red gorgonia (Paramuricea clavata), among which contrasts the green of many algae (Dictyotales spp., Codium fragile, C. bursa), il rosso di Peyssonnelia squamaria e P. rubra e le chiazze colorate di molte specie di spugne che ricoprono il substrato delle zone in ombra (Phorbas tenacior, Clathrina clathrus, Chondrosia reniformis). Molto interessanti sono le volte delle spaccature nella roccia più profonde colonizzate dallea spugna Hexadella racovitzai, la margherita di mare (Parazoanthus axinellae), la madrepora gialla (Leptopsammia pruvoti) e i madreporari Hoplangia durotrix e Madracis pharensis. Brown grouper (Epinephelus marginatus), lobster (Palinurus elephas), conger (Conger conger), and mullet kings (Apogon imberbis) can also find refuge in the same rifts. Approaching the bottom, at about 30 m, the substratum hosts on the scattered boulders the white gorgonia (E. singularis), large specimens of the candelabra sponge (Axinella polypoides), the red alcionarium with white polyps Alcyonium acaule, practices of Caulerpa racemosa, tufts of Posidonia that sometimes hide specimens of Pinna nobilis. On the rocks at the bottom there is also the brown seaweed Cystoseira spinosa.

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