{"id":629009,"date":"2024-07-28T10:20:06","date_gmt":"2024-07-28T07:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bearded-fireworm-stalks-shallows-as-mediterranean-warms\/"},"modified":"2024-07-28T10:20:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-28T07:20:06","slug":"bearded-fireworm-stalks-shallows-as-mediterranean-warms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bearded-fireworm-stalks-shallows-as-mediterranean-warms\/","title":{"rendered":"#Bearded fireworm stalks shallows as Mediterranean warms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2e9db291987\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2e9db291987\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bearded-fireworm-stalks-shallows-as-mediterranean-warms\/#Scavenger_and_predator\" >Scavenger and predator<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bearded-fireworm-stalks-shallows-as-mediterranean-warms\/#%E2%80%98Profound_changes\" >&#8216;Profound changes&#8217;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2024\/fireworms-are-native-t.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2024\/fireworms-are-native-t.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Fireworms are native to the Mediterranean, but they used to be fewer in number and only spotted off Sicily in summer.\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2024\/fireworms-are-native-t.jpg\" alt=\"Fireworms are native to the Mediterranean, but they used to be fewer in number and only spotted off Sicily in summer\" title=\"Fireworms are native to the Mediterranean, but they used to be fewer in number and only spotted off Sicily in summer.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Fireworms are native to the Mediterranean, but they used to be fewer in number and only spotted off Sicily in summer.<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The fish in Alfonso Barone&#8217;s net are hauled aboard off Sicily half- eaten, ravaged by bearded fireworms, a voracious predator flourishing in the increasingly warm Mediterranean sea.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                                    The centipede-like creatures, around 15 to 30 centimeters (6-12 inches) long, devour everything from coral to the dying or dead catch in fishing nets\u2014and rising sea temperatures caused by climate change are drastically boosting their numbers.<\/p>\n<p>Barone pulls a long, wriggling red worm off a headless mackerel in his boat. Its venomous white bristles come off at the slightest touch and the 34-year-old says he has been stung several times, once even in the eye.<\/p>\n<p>The fish are attacked as soon as they get caught in the net.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They eat the head, the whole body, they gut it,&#8221; Barone said as he pulled up a mangled sea bream while fishing off the village of Marzamemi, on the southeastern tip of Sicily.<\/p>\n<p>Fireworms are native to the Mediterranean but used to be fewer in number and spotted only off Sicily in summer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;With global warming the waters are heating up and becoming an ideal habitat for them, and they are growing in number, year on year&#8230; the whole year round,&#8221; said Barone, who has fished since boyhood.<\/p>\n<p>Gnawed fish cannot be sold, so fishermen reduce the time the nets are down in a bid to stop a feeding frenzy\u2014resulting in a smaller catch, bits of which come adorned anyway with brown, green or red fireworms.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They used to eat around 30 percent of the catch&#8230; Now that&#8217;s gone up to 70 percent,&#8221; Barone said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2024\/the-fireworms-are-both.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2024\/the-fireworms-are-both.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"The fireworms are both predators and scavengers and can destroy a large amount of a fisher's catch.\">\n<figure class=\"article-img text-center\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2024\/the-fireworms-are-both.jpg\" alt=\"The fireworms are both predators and scavengers and can destroy a large amount of a fisher's catch.\" title=\"The fireworms are both predators and scavengers and can destroy a large amount of a fisher's catch.\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-left text-darken text-truncate text-low-up mt-3\">\n                The fireworms are both predators and scavengers and can destroy a large amount of a fisher&#8217;s catch.<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Scavenger_and_predator\"><\/span>Scavenger and predator<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The worms are also migrating north. Francesco Tiralongo, a zoologist who heads a University of Catania project to study the fireworm, has recorded cases in Calabria, southern Italy.<\/p>\n<p>The bearded fireworm &#8220;is an opportunistic species that behaves both as predator and scavenger&#8221; and &#8220;there are impressive quantities of them&#8230; in very shallow waters,&#8221; Tiralongo told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>On Marzamemi&#8217;s beach, many nervous bathers don masks or water shoes before diving in.<\/p>\n<p>Fabiana Davanzo, a 56-year-old tourist from Milan, said she refused to &#8220;let it ruin my holiday, but I do always go in with my mask on so I can see the sea floor&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>As he gingerly dipped his toes in the water, holidaymaker Salvatore Lazzaro, 51, said he was stung by an unidentified creature the previous day, but was braving the water once more under a sweltering sun.<\/p>\n<p>Spooked swimmers and frustrated fishers are not the only problem.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2024\/bearded-fireworms-can.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2024\/bearded-fireworms-can.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Bearded fireworms can regenerate, regrowing tails or heads if cut in half.\">\n<figure class=\"article-img text-center\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2024\/bearded-fireworms-can.jpg\" alt=\"Bearded fireworms can regenerate, regrowing tails or heads if cut in half\" title=\"Bearded fireworms can regenerate, regrowing tails or heads if cut in half.\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-left text-darken text-truncate text-low-up mt-3\">\n                Bearded fireworms can regenerate, regrowing tails or heads if cut in half.<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Climate warming is provoking several changes in the Mediterranean which will probably be exacerbated in the coming years,&#8221; according to Federico Betti, an expert in invasive species at the University of Genoa.<\/p>\n<p>The average temperature of the Mediterranean has increased by around 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the last 40 years, he said.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98Profound_changes\"><\/span>&#8216;Profound changes&#8217;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Warmer seas mean fewer seasonal variations in species, damage to deep water communities and loss of habitat, leading to more homogeneous environments unable to support rich and diverse ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p>The heat can also provoke mass mortality events in which vast numbers of a certain species die, Betti said.<\/p>\n<p>Other species relish it: There has been an increase in tropical, non-native species in the Mediterranean that &#8220;cause profound changes in marine ecosystems&#8221;, Tiralongo said.<\/p>\n<p>Those include the blue crab, which is devastating shellfish production in the Po delta in northern Italy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2024\/the-average-temperatur.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2024\/the-average-temperatur.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"The average temperature of the Mediterranean has increased by around 1.2 degrees Celsius in the last 40 years.\">\n<figure class=\"article-img text-center\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2024\/the-average-temperatur.jpg\" alt=\"The average temperature of the Mediterranean has increased by around 1.2 degrees Celsius in the last 40 years\" title=\"The average temperature of the Mediterranean has increased by around 1.2 degrees Celsius in the last 40 years.\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-left text-darken text-truncate text-low-up mt-3\">\n                The average temperature of the Mediterranean has increased by around 1.2 degrees Celsius in the last 40 years.<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The crabs have no natural predators, though Italians are attempting to turn them into a resource by harvesting them to eat.<\/p>\n<p>But bearded fireworm spaghetti is not an option. And while more research needs to be done into possible solutions, Tiralongo has already made a disconcerting discovery.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t kill a fireworm by cutting it in half, it has excellent regeneration capabilities,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If you slice it in two, not only does the part with the head regenerate a back half, but the back half manages in about 22 days to regenerate a head.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n                                                  \u00a9 2024 AFP\n                                             <\/p>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>                                                <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                Bearded fireworm stalks shallows as Mediterranean warms (2024, July 28)<br \/>\n                                                retrieved 28 July 2024<br \/>\n                                                from https:\/\/phys.org\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2024-07-bearded-fireworm-stalks-shallows-mediterranean.html<\/p>\n<p>                                             This document is subject to copyright. 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Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/science\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-07-bearded-fireworm-stalks-shallows-mediterranean.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fireworms are native to the Mediterranean, but they used to be fewer in number and only spotted off Sicily in summer. The fish in Alfonso Barone&#8217;s net are hauled aboard off Sicily half- eaten, ravaged by bearded fireworms, a voracious predator flourishing in the increasingly warm Mediterranean sea. The centipede-like creatures, around 15 to 30&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":629010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2024\/fireworms-are-native-t.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-629009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}