Fondali di Isola delle Femmine – Capo Gallo

The site includes a vast expanse of open sea and “Isola delle Femmine”, wich has a rich marine biodiversity. Coastal currents are dominated by northwest winds during the autumn-spring period, creating strong hydrodynamics. The “Isola delle Femmine” is characterized by submerged walls with cliff coralligenous formations and Posidonia oceanica meadows along the coast. Moreover, along the coast of Capo Gallo, there are karstic cavities with sciaphilic populations and calcareous algae. The area is important for the Vermetidaed sidewalk which is a biogenic structure created by the sessile gastropod Dendropoma petraeum and the alga Lithophyllum byssoides. In the Posidonia oceanica meadows, there are plant communities of Cystoseira sp. and deep colonies of corals such as Corallium rubrum and Gerardia savaglia. Sand amphioxus beds are rare and sensitive formations that need protection, especially due to the rarity of the European lancelet (Branchiostoma lanceolatum). The site represents an important area of marine biodiversity in the Tyrrhenian Sea.