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_____________________________________________________________________ MARINE MOLLUSCA OF THÁSOS Batjakas & Economakis (2002) provide an illustrated selection of the inshore invertebrate fauna of the Greek coast, including forty-seven pages on molluscs. There is, however, no indication of the distribution of each species. Tenekidis (1989) may provide more information on the occurrence of species in the Aegean but I have not seen this book (the text of which is presumably in Greek). Another general reference that might be worth consulting is Moosleitner & Patzner 1995. In 2012 Thanasis Manousis published his lavishly illustrated bilingual opus of The Sea Shells of Greece (available from Kyriakidis Brothers s.a.) and followed this with Hellenic Conches in 2021 which extends coverage to include the fauna of the Adriatic as well as the Aegean. This beautifully produced book is available from Conchbooks. Sylvia van Leeuwen & Bart van Tooren of The Netherlands visited the island on 3-17 May 2004 and recorded 183 different taxa (listed below) on the beaches. I have not been able to research this aspect of Thásos's wildlife yet and hence have no idea how many species one may expect around the shores of Thásos, nor if any of these species are of biogeographical interest. However, this list predominately consists of shallow water species and many more will be found in the deeper waters around the coasts of Thásos. Manousis (2021) lists 1344 marine Mollusca as being recorded from Greek waters and 252 taxa as having been reported from the sea and coast of the north-eastern Aegean. In the meantime I offer Sylvia's comments on her experiences of collecting marine Mollusca on Thásos.
"My
first impression was that Thassos did not have much to offer for shell
collectors. The reason is that you will seldom find a good driftline. But with
some effort, a large number of species can be found, especially small species.
All species mentioned on the list were found dead on the beaches and in the
harbours. In early May the water was too cold to go snorkelling, so I do not know
if this is worthwhile.
Other
good places:
- The harbour of Skala Potamias and the corner of the beach immediately next to the harbour. - The traditional harbour of Chrysi Ammoudia, especially in the fisherman's pots. Some shells can be also found at nearby Golden Beach, especially big bivalves (Acanthocardia and Glycymeris). - The small beach in the harbour of Thassos Town (it does not seem very exciting, but here I collected shell grit that contained a lot of micro-shells which I did not found in other places)." If any visitors to this website can offer additional information on the marine molluscs of Thásos I would be very pleased to hear from them.
REFERENCES Batjakas, I.E. & Economakis, A.E. 2002. The Greek seashore: a field guide to coastal invertebrates. Efstathiadis Group S.A., Athens. 223 pages. Manousis, T. 2012. The Sea Shells of Greece. Kyriakidis Bros. S.A. Thessaloniki. 384 pages. Manousis, T. 2021. Hellenic Conches. Harxheim: Conchbooks. 607 pages. Moosleitner, H. & Patzner, R. 1995. Unterwasserführer Mittelmeer Niedere Tiere [Underwater guide Mediterranean invertebrates]. Delius Klasing, Edition Naglschmid. Stuttgart. 214 pages. Tenekidis, N.S. 1989. Mia Syllogi Koghylion apo tis Ellinikes Thalasses [A collection of shells from the Greek seas]. Protopapa Brothers Ltd. Greece. 187 pages. |
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The beach near Cap Prinos (start in the village Skala Prinos and walk to the
south-west around the Cape). The first part of the beach is covered with a lot
of seagrass, look under and between the seagrass for shells. Further on there is
a sandy beach with a driftline. Give particular attention to the few stones and
rock-blocks on the beach, in the shadow of these blocks you can find small
shells washed in by the sea.