December 2nd in Trieste
On a sunny day, our researchers finally opened the larval collectors positioned during the summer. Expectations were high: perhaps we would find small individuals of Pinna nobilis.
We collected 9 collectors among those placed in the Area Marina Protetta Miramare and 3 from those placed among the cultivation of mussels, one for each depth level. Following the procedure, we weighed the bag immediately after collection, while it was still wet. We checked that there were no young individuals of Pinna nobilis on the outside of the collector and then opened it.
We found many organisms inside the bag: echinoderms, such as sea urchins, bivalve molluscs, such as mussels and oysters, ascidians, small crustaceans, some squid eggs. These species were frozen for examination and identification by @OGS researchers.
Unfortunately we did not find any Pinna nobilis, but our search continues!