The white stingray reappears in the Canalone of Capo Mulini, and on Shark Awareness Day it seems to call for the protection of crucial areas for the reproduction and survival of its endangered and protected species.
A rare white stingray was spotted last Friday on the volcanic seabed of Capo Mulini, in Acireale (Catania). This “ghost fish” is a female common stingray (Dasyatis pastinaca), a protected species bearing a rare genetic trait known as leucism, which leaves the animal almost completely without pigmentation — a feature never before documented in this species, which is usually characterised by a grey-bronze colouration.
This is the third time in a decade that this unusual stingray has been photographed by divers in Catania — an extraordinary sighting that brings renewed attention to the Canalone of Capo Mulini: an ecologically valuable habitat where large stingrays gather every summer, possibly to reproduce. However, the area remains unprotected, as it lies outside the Ciclopi Islands Marine Protected Area.
The white stingray was recognised and reported by Graziano Trovato of the DNA Divers Catania dive centre, and documented by one of the centre’s diving students, Margriet de Graaf.
Thanks to the contribution of local dive centres (DNA Divers, Etna & Sea Excursion, Jonio Pro Dive Catania, JALA Diving Center, Sigonella Scuba Club), underwater photographers such as Giovanni Laganà, and the Ciclopi Islands Marine Protected Area, the LIFE European Sharks project was able to confirm that the Canalone of Capo Mulini is an aggregation site for numerous adult individuals — both male and female — of this protected species.
For this reason, the area will be proposed to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) for official designation as an ISRA (Important Shark and Ray Area) — a site of high ecological value for sharks and rays. Currently, only 16 sites in Italy hold this recognition.
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