Underwater Photo Location: Scoglio formica Porticello

by Alfonso Santoro
Sogno

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by Ferdinando Meli
Diving boat from below...

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by Ferdinando Meli
Flabellina affinis

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by Antonio Venturelli
color flames_Cratena nudi_2021 (Canon60mm,t1/200,f/25,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
I waited so many minutes for it to line up with my lens..and finally the shot is really close. Thank you sweet beauty Cratena (Canon 60mm,t1/200,f/22,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Mediterranean Cratena-2021 (Canon60mm,t1/200,f/22,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Colors of Mediterranean sea_2021 (Canon100mm, t1/200,f/20,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Lamprohaminoea ovalis-2021 (Canon100mm,t1/200,f/20,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
The sinuous shape of Cratena nudi_2021 (Canon100mm, t1/200,f/20,iso 200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Tricolor nudibranch_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f16,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Pagurus photo_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f14,iso125)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Sinuous movement of a beautiful Felimare nudibranch_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f22,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Bright colors of a Cratena in the Mediterranean Sea_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f18,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Summer is good time to shot these beautiful nudibranchs. This is a Cratena with flashy dorsal purple cerata and tips in blue. The name "cerata" comes from Greek meaning horns_2022. (Canon100,1/250,f18,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
A close look at a Cratena in search of hydroids_la Formica dive site_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f20,iso160)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Flabellina-2022 (Canon100,1/200,f/22,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Purple sea slug ( Flabellina affinis). We can see it often during all dives in Mediterranean sea_2022 (Canon100,1/200,f25,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Intense colors of Mediterranean Flabellina_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f22,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Orange cerata close up of Cratena nudibranch_2022 (Canon100,1/200,f22,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Beautiful Cratena posing on the seabed_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f22,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Flabellina affinis_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f22,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Mediterranean moray eel_2021 (Canon60,1/125,f7.1,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Tripterygion delaisi female_2022 (Canon100,1/250,f14,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Pink flatworm ( Prostheceraeus roseus)of Mediterranean sea_2022 (Canon100,1/200,f14,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Felimare tricolor_2022 (Canon100,1/200,f20,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Cratena nudibranch_close up the intense orange of cerata acting as extension of digestive tract with same color of food source (hydroids)_2022 (Canon100,1/200,f20,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Cratena Peregrina close up.Clearly visible the white coiled egg-ribbons typical of this beautiful nudibranch and orange hydroids (main food source) which give the same color to the dorsal cerata. (Canon100,1/250,f22,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Magnificent Cratena nudibranch_2022 (Canon100,1/200,f22,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Intensely colorful Cratena nudibranch_2022 (Canon100,1/200,f20,iso250)

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by Antonio Venturelli
So much life, so many colors are hidden in the Mediterranean Sea. This is a specimen of Cratena peregrina nudibranch photographed at La Formica dive site,in 2022. (Canon100,1/200,f20,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
As you can see in this shot, C. peregrina orients head-first, with the head being the end with two orange horns, two white tusks, and two orange eye patches in between_La Formica_2022 (Canon100,1/200,f20,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
I took this photo one second before this Cratena nudibranch disappeared into the sea grass. I often enjoy waiting for them to emerge from some bush to photograph their big orange eyes! (Canon100,1/200,f20,iso400)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Cratena nudibranchs, fascinating creatures of Mediterranean sea .This is taken at La Formica dive site, in Sicily_August 2022. (Canon100, 1/250,f18,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Mediterranean Cratena. With its colorful shades, it looks like the creation of a talented painter_2023 (Canon60,1/200,f20,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Felimare tricolor are quite common in the Mediterranean Sea but difficult to photograph due to their small size. I like the contrast between strong yellow & electric blue that distinguishes this species of nudis_2023 (Canon100,1/200,f16,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Beautiful eyes of Mediterranean Hermit crab_2023 (Canon60,1/200,f18,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Pink Flabellina nudibranch_July 2023 (Canon100,1/200,f20,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Felimare tricolor_June 2023 (Canon100,1/200,f14,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
I usually find this type of Flabellina where there is a hidden current, however it prefers to shelter in creeks. Once found it is pleasant to shot when it opens its cerata upwards as in this photo taken ~15 mt deep_2023 (Canon100,1/200,f16,i.160)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Nudis are usually on top of something. This has climbed onto a hydroid twig. I don't worry if body is out of focus. Indeed, the photo can be even more beautiful the more the body is blurred, as long as the head is clear. (Canon100,1/200,f14,i.200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Flabellinae are often found perched in precarious positions. But by waiting a bit you can often find the right angle to see them almost entirely, as in this photo.Sept_2023 (Canon100,1/200,f14,iso160)

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by Antonio Venturelli
If you were to count all the shades of white, purple, orange, yellow, blue and pink contained in a Mediterranean Flabellina I think one page (in small print) would not be enough! Sept_2023 (Canon100, 1/200,f13,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Two Cratena are quietly feeding on hydroids in the sea of Casteldaccia. See the open mouth flanked by the oral tentacles. Notice the vertical orientation of the mouth that is the most common configuration in all sea slugs.(Canon100,1/200,f20,i.160)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Trypterigion tripteronotum is named peperoncino in Italy because its red color during reproductive period, with a black head . Normally the color is brown-green with lighter vertical bands like this photo _Oct 2023 (Canon100,1/200,f11,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Cratena nudibranch_Sicily, Oct 2023 (Canon100,1/200,f14,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
A macro photo on a black background of a beautiful Flabellina photographed in the sea of ​​Casteldaccia, Sicily_Sept 2023 (Canon100,1/200,f14,iso160)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Cratena nudibranch _ June 2024 (Canon100, 1/200,f20,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Mediterranean Flabellina_June2024 (Canon100,1/200,f18,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Bavosa c._2023 (Canon100,1/200,f8,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Cratena nudibranch_July 2023 (Canon100,1/200,f20,iso200)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Mediterranean violet aeloid_June 2024 (Canon100, 1/200,f20,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
The colors of this Cratena nudibranch remind me that nature is wonderful and we humans have the privilege of being able to admire it in its different forms, always discovering something new._October 2023 (Canon100, 1/250, f13,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Since July here in Sicily you can see many more Cratene than before, close together, intent on laying eggs a few meters deep, let's say around fifteen meters. An excellent time to shot some of them in pairs._July_2024 (Canon100,1/200,f18,iso100)

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by Antonio Venturelli
Watchful eye that of the Mediterranean Hermit Crab, always careful to protect abdomen, which is not covered by a rigid cuticle, inside the shells of gastropod molluscs that it finds abandoned_August 2024 (Canon100,1/200,f14,iso100)

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