Pinna nobilis, commonly known as the “pen shell,” is the largest bivalve species in the Mediterranean Sea, reaching lengths of up to 120 cm, and is also among the largest bivalves in the world. Endemic to the Mediterranean, this species has long been protected under international conventions. However, following the outbreak of a pathogenic disease that first emerged in Gibraltar in 2016 and rapidly spread throughout the Mediterranean, Pinna nobilis has been driven to the brink of extinction.

Fieldwork conducted in 2025 within the framework of the international project “Pan-Mediterranean Pinna Larval Collectors Network,” in which academic staff from the Faculty of Maritime Studies at University of Kyrenia have been actively involved across the Mediterranean since 2020, was successfully completed on 13 November 2025.

As part of the field surveys, underwater collector devices were deployed on 3 August 2025 in the marine protected area of Alsancak (33°13′14″E / 35°21′46″N), which was designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources on 17 May 2023 and has been the subject of ongoing research. After remaining underwater until 13 November 2025, the collectors were retrieved. Across more than 200 stations surveyed throughout the Mediterranean, Pinna nobilis was recorded at only a very limited number of sites. The detection of 18 juvenile Pinna nobilis individuals at the Alsancak station represents the highest number recorded in the region to date and is considered a significant and encouraging finding.

The deployment and retrieval of the collectors were carried out simultaneously with other partner studies across the Mediterranean, as synchronized timing is crucial for the comparability of the collected data. The findings obtained are expected to contribute to both direct and indirect scientific research and academic publications, providing valuable insights into certain marine species of the Mediterranean.
The project is led by Prof. Dr. Mehmet Fatih Hüseyinoğlu, with coordination by Dr. Gökhan Tarı. Associate, undergraduate, and graduate students are also actively involved in the project, promoting the inclusion of young researchers in scientific studies and enabling them to gain hands-on research experience.

Through this work, collaboration with national institutions, organizations, and local non-governmental organizations is being fostered to expand the scope of the project and enhance regional awareness. These partnerships aim to increase awareness of marine biodiversity conservation and to contribute to science-based decision-making processes.