Pinna

Living populations of the endangered noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis) are now found in only two locations in Greece: the Gulf of Kalloni on Lesvos and the Amvrakikos Gulf in northwestern Greece. Even in these areas, illegal fishing threatens the species, raising the risk of its complete extinction from Greek waters.

The population of a protected species called noble pen shell, or Pinna nobilis, has increased significantly in the Marmara Sea, contributing as a solution to the mucilage problem and its own existence.

The mucilage problem experienced in the Marmara Sea in 2021 threatened the existence of many organisms in the marine ecosystem, particularly the pen shell.

With no signs of mucilage and the reproduction of an endangered species, the submerged İnönü vessel has become a light of hope to experts that the Marmara Sea is "not dying."

The İnönü vessel, which was submerged in 2013 off the northwestern province of Kocaeli's Karamürsel district, was covered with heavy layers of mucilage in June 2021.

Marine experts have called for urgent action to deal with the dwindling population of the Pinna nobilis, or fan mussel - a large species of Mediterranean clam - in the Aegean due to a killer parasite. 

The protected fan mussel species Pinna nobilis, a large species of Mediterranean clam, has been transported to another area due to the construction of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in the northwestern province of Çanakkale.

With rapid efficiency, a mysterious parasite is seeking out and killing a giant species of clam found only in the Mediterranean Sea. Unless scientists can find a way of stopping it soon, they say the mollusk could go extinct.

For thousands of years, the emblematic noble pen shell has been intrinsically connected to human civilization.