Site 12 - Grotta di Cala Rotonda

At the exit of Cala Rotonda, on the right-hand side, there is an exciting route that gives access to a cave, through a succession of colourful and diverse passages. Plays of light, semi-obscure chambers, pinnacles and coloured vaults offer an exciting experience. The area is also of interest to freedivers. The entrance to the cave, at about 6-8 m, has a vault covered with a mosaic of pink coralline algae, the orange madrepore Astroides calycularis, false coral (Myriapora truncata), pink (Dysidea fragilis) and yellow (Agelas oroides) sponges. Continuing inland, the rock is richly colonised by the yellow madrepores Leptopsammia pruvoti and the sponge Petrosia ficiformis. One can recognise the cave crab (Herbstia condyliata). Continuing on the right side, one enters a chamber where the light is reduced and on the vault one can distinguish numerous tubes of serpulids (Protula sp.) with expanded gill tufts, the white sponge Petrobiona massiliana, and the colonial coral Hoplangia durotrix. The less illuminated part of the cave hosts the crab Dardanus calidus in symbiosis with the actinia Calliactis parasitica, the conger conger, the echiuridae Bonellia viridis and the shrimp Palaemon serratus. At the bottom of the chamber a number of croakers (Sciaena umbra) swim undisturbed. Continuing inside the cave one reaches a chamber that reaches the surface where, thanks to the increased illumination, the rock is again colonised by pink algae and sponges (Petrosia ficiformis, Clathrina clathrus, C. coriacea). Descending towards the sandy seabed, along the walls one can recognise the serpentine star (Ophioderma longicaudum), the madrepore H. durotrix and encounter the red scorpion fish (Scorpaena scrofa) and the grouper Epinephelus marginatus. On the boulders outside the cave, algae (Asparagopsis armata, Dictyotales sp.) and Posidonia oceanica dominate.

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