The rise in sea and river temperatures in Italy has given rise to a real invasion of alien species. Among these, there is the vermocane, a wandering marine worm belonging to the Polychaete class, native to the tropical zone of the Atlantic Ocean but increasingly present in the Mediterranean Sea to the point of making news about the alleged danger represented by this creature go viral.
To tone down, however, it was the president of the WWF of Molfetta, Pasquale Salvemini: «I don’t understand these waves of sensationalist headlines that go crazy with widespread ease on social media, leading many people to be increasingly afraid of facing nature and nature. the external environment. The risk of coming into contact with these creatures remains relatively low in our waters and should not be considered differently from the ordinary danger linked, for example, to jellyfish. But nothing more.”
«The increase in temperatures of the Mediterranean waters of 0.88°C compared to the average of 1850-1900 – he explains – has favored the entry and proliferation of exotic species. These new inhabitants, according to the news we read on the web, represent a possible threat not only to the native fauna, but also to humans. I want to reassure you about the alarmist headlines that are being read more and more often.”
The warbler is found in many marine environments such as corals, rocks, mud, sand, seagrass and on driftwood, as well as in port infrastructure in shallow waters from the surface to 40 m depth. It feeds mainly on decaying substances and dead fish, but also on urchins which it attacks by slipping under the part that adheres to the rocks: it is not uncommon to find a small group of them feeding on a dead fish.
