The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, northeast Germany, Poland, Russia and the North and Central European Plain.
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. Although the sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is usually referred to as a separate body of water. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago.
The Sea of Azov is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow Strait of Kerch, and is sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded in the northwest by Ukraine, in the southeast by Russia. The Don River and Kuban River are the major rivers that flow into it. There is a constant outflow of water from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
A cockle is an edible, marine bivalve mollusc. Although many small edible bivalves are loosely called cockles, true cockles are species in the family Cardiidae. True cockles live in sandy, sheltered beaches throughout the world. The distinctive rounded shells are bilaterally symmetrical, and are heart-shaped when viewed from the end. Numerous radial, evenly spaced ribs are a feature of the shell in most but not all genera.
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The Convention on Wetlands, known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO, which came into force in 1975. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources. Ramsar identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat.
The starlet sea anemone is a species of small sea anemone in the family Edwardsiidae native to the east coast of the United States, with introduced populations along the coast of southeast England and the west coast of the United States. Populations have also been located in Nova Scotia, Canada. This sea anemone is found in the shallow brackish water of coastal lagoons and salt marshes where its slender column is usually buried in the mud and its tentacles exposed. Its genome has been sequenced and it is cultivated in the laboratory as a model organism, but the IUCN has listed it as being a "Vulnerable species" in the wild.
The common cockle is a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae, the cockles. It is found in waters off Europe, from Iceland in the north, south into waters off western Africa as far south as Senegal. The ribbed oval shells can reach 6 centimetres (2.4 in) across and are white, yellowish or brown in colour. The common cockle is harvested commercially and eaten in much of its range.
Cerastoderma is a genus of marine bivalves in the family Cardiidae. It includes the common cockle Cerastoderma edule.
Neomysis integer is a species of opossum shrimp found in shallow marine bays and estuaries of Europe, with a transparent greenish or brownish body and a large cephalothorax. It is found in very shallow water in both high and low-salinity habitats. It is a filter feeder and the female broods her eggs in a brood pouch beneath her cephalothorax.
Victorella pavida or trembling sea mat is a species of bryozoans found in shallow waters of low or fluctuating salinity, such as lagoons and estuaries. In summer it can have the appearance of velvet. The zooids may be from 0.3 mm to 1 mm in length. They live in colonies underwater attaching to stones. They feed using tiny hairs attached to their crown of tentacles to catch tiny particles flowing through the water, also known as "filter feeding".
The European anchovy is a forage fish somewhat related to the herring. It is a type of anchovy; anchovies are placed in the family Engraulidae. It lives off the coasts of Europe and Africa, including in the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azov. It is fished by humans throughout much of its range.
Lake Bardawil is a large, very saline lagoon nearby the protected area of Zaranik in Egypt on the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Lake Bardawil is about 30 kilometers (19 mi) long, and 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) wide. It's considered to be one of the three major lakes of the Sinai Peninsula, along with the Great Bitter Lake and the Little Bitter Lake. It continues to decrease in size as sands move and is becoming more of a Playa or Sabkha than a lake. Between Port Said and Rafah are three main sabkhat which extend from west to east: Sabkhat El Malaha, Sabkhat Bardawil and Sabkhat El Sheikh Zawayed.
The Mediterranean mussel is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is an invasive species in many parts of the world, and also an object of aquaculture.
Akera bullata is a species of sea snail, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Akeridae, a family that is related to the sea hares. This species is the only European representative of the genus Akera.
Balanus perforatus is a species of barnacle in the family Balanidae. It is found on the lower shore and in the neritic zone in the warm temperate parts of the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Fulvia is a genus of cockles, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae. Most species are found in the Indo-Pacific and in Australian waters.
Fragum erugatum is a small species of cockle, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae. It is found in the shallow seas off the coast of Western Australia. It is commonly known as the Hamelin cockle, cardiid cockle or heart cockle.
Zostera noltii is a species of seagrass known by the common name dwarf eelgrass. It is found in shallow coastal waters in north western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Aral Sea and on islands in the Atlantic off the coast of northwest Africa. It is an important part of the intertidal and shallow subtidal ecosystems of estuaries, bays and lagoons.
Acanthocardia echinata, the prickly cockle or European prickly cockle, is a species of saltwater clam, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae. The genus Acanthocardia is present from the Upper Oligocene to the Recent.
The Langebaan Lagoon Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of South Africa
