The geographical locations of the Mediterranean, its morphology, its geological history as eventful as its historical past, have made it a special world with a fragile balance. Its animals and plants are characterized by a great diversity. Constantly evolving, new species are acquired as they enter through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal.
The Museum's Mediterranean aquaria reflect this wealth. Through an exceptional collection of species, they show the various environments of the coastal region, without forgetting the high seas, home of the streamlined predators and large migratory creatures.
Just under the surface, a few feet away from the Aquarium, the Mediterranean already reveals part of its secrets. Turkish wrasses, salema and damselfish keep close to sea urchins and algae in those luminous and moving waters. The sea grass bed is found a little lower, down to a depth of 20 to 30 metress. These vast beds are true underwater nurseries: numerous species go there to breed.
The sea grass bed is also the kingdom of camouflage! Perfectly adjusted to this environment, the shapes and colours of the species blend to the point of becoming invisible. The halimeda, a calcareous green alga, colonizes rocks at the edge of the Neptune-grass bed.
A little lower, halimeda-covered stones give way to the coralligenous cliff diving into the blue... The Mediterranean is a luminous and coloured sea. The communities of animals encountered along the vertical coralligenous cliff eloquently demonstrate this. Deserted in appearance only, the sandy-muddy bottoms of the continenal plateau contain many forms of life.
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