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If you want to visit a coral reef, Italy is probably not the first place that comes to your mind. In fact, it probably does not come to your head since no one knew until now that a coral reef was hiding off the Italian coast.
The reef, which is detailed in a new study published in Scientific reports, is not a lively oasis of marine life sitting just below the surface of a shallow lagoon. Instead, it is well below the waves of the ocean, away from much of the light that emanates from it.
The coral reef structures that we often see in eye-catching images of the Caribbean, Australia, and elsewhere are highly dependent on sunlight to provide the fuel needed for coral prosperity. The newly created reef in Italy is so unique – and that's what helped keep it hidden so long – because it's nestled along the coast in much deeper water.
Because of its location, the reef is built much differently than those we are more used to seeing. The organisms that facilitate the growth of tropical reefs are largely absent, mainly because of their thirst for sun. Instead, stony corals dominate the Italian reef with large, less colored calcium structures than in the tropics, but resemble other reefs in deeper waters.
"Overall, the reef studied can be considered as a unique environment, to be included in the broad and diverse category of Mediterranean bioconstructions," the researchers write. "The large amount of suspended organic matter available in the region could be the main nutritional source for these species, as already suggested in the literature mentioned in Mediterranean cold-water corals."
The reef, which stretches for less than three kilometers along the Italian coast of the Adriatic Sea, may not be the next major tourist attraction, but its discovery certainly deserves to be celebrated.
Source of the image: G. Corriero, et al. / Scientific reports
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