Priroda, a Croatian public institution, is currently distributing yellow spherical buoys along the Croatian Adriatic coast to aid in the research and conservation of the endangered noble pen shell. Recreational boaters should not moor their boats to these buoys or touch them under any circumstances.
The noble pen shell, also known as the large pen shell (Pinna nobilis) with a shell that can reach up to 1.2 meters in length, is found throughout the Mediterranean, where it usually lives in coastal, sandy seagrass meadows (Zostera and Posidonia communities) at a depth of three to ten meters, upright with its tip stuck in the sediment – hence the name “noble pen shell.”
However, the noble pen shell is currently threatened with extinction. One of the reasons for this is overfishing, as the shell – which is now strictly protected – is edible and was once popular as a seafood delicacy. Since ancient times, its golden shimmering byssus threads have also been used to make shell silk, which was highly prized as an extremely valuable fabric. Another reason for the species’ extinction is the increasing pollution of the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea.
A parasite is making noble pen shells sick; this species is threatened with extinction
However, the mussel is currently being wiped out by a single-celled parasite called Haplosporidium pinnae, which lodges itself in the animals, makes them sick and ultimately kills them.
The so-called endoparasite is causing a mass die-off of the mussels, which has been observed since 2016 and, according to the IUCN, has led to “an 80 to 100 percent decline in the affected populations” (the IUCN is an organization that maintains the “Red List of Threatened Species”).
Experts and institutions throughout the Adriatic are therefore currently working on the “Conservation of the Noble Pen shell in the Adriatic” project to prevent the complete disappearance of this natural marine cleaner and to preserve the endemic and largest shellfish species, which is considered one of the most popular motifs of the underwater world.
A project is working to prevent the complete disappearance of the giant clam
Scientists in Croatia are also currently taking action to protect the large clam: the public institution “Priroda” has set up collection containers for young noble pen shells in Jadranovo, whose seabed was once home to the noble pen shell. in Jadranovo, whose seabed was once home to the noble pen shell, has set up collection containers for young noble pen shells.
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The researchers hope that the small and delicate larvae in the bright yellow, buoy-shaped containers will be accepted by the young animals and thus be able to develop into fully grown animals.
Recreational skippers are asked not to touch the yellow buoys labeled “Project for the conservation of the noble pen shell in the Adriatic Sea” under any circumstances and, in particular, not to moor their boats to them.
