The Tor Paterno Shoals consist of completely submerged ridges of rock that are not visible from the surface. These ridges are inhabited by both animal and plant organisms, which through adhesion and modification of the substrate, have altered its shape over time. The seabed is composed by the accumulation of terrestrial sediments, primarily originating from the Tiber River’s activity. The summits of the ridges, which are 25 meters deep, are inhabited by meadows of Posidonia oceanica, an endemic Mediterranean plant that has become increasingly rare and endangered in the Tyrrhenian Sea.