[eng] From June 1-9 I was in France on a a two-fold mission.  The first half of the trip was spent in the south of France in Marseille and the surrounding area.  I stayed with my good friend Yvan Perez,  a professor at the Institute of Mediterranean Ecology and Paleo-Ecology at the University of Provence in Marseille. Yvan acted as my dive guide and translator as we searched along the coast for the temperate Eastern Atlantic/Mediterranean corallimorph Corynactis viridis. [/eng] 2009年六月一号到9号，我开始了法国之旅，这次我有双重任务。首先是去法国南部的马赛和周边地区。我和好朋友Yvan Perez在一起，他是地中海生态学和古生态学的教授，任职在马赛的大学。Yvan就像我的潜水导师，引领我到西部的大西洋(地中海)的珊瑚礁去找Corynactis viridis [eng] The second half of the trip was spent in Strasbourg in the Alsace region of France near the German border where I gave a lecture on the Caribbean corallimorph species at the annual convention of Recif France, which is the society of French reef aquarists. Over the next couple of weeks I will be posting a series of articles on this trip, specifically the quest for Corynactis viridis… [/eng] 第二个任务是参加一个年度的法国珊瑚爱好聚会， 在Strasbourg 斯特拉斯堡(法国东北部城市)，座落在阿尔萨斯(法国东北部一地名)接近德国边界的区域，我会有一个讲座，主题是关于加勒比海珊瑚礁的物种, 在外来的两个星期，我会详细将这次旅途的事放上来，特别是关于珊瑚礁Corynactis viridis [eng] On the second day following my arrival we headed out for the first dive in hopes of finding Corynactis viridis.  Yvan has not yet come across this species near Marseille (C. viridis are much less abundant in the Mediterranean than along the European Atlantic coast), but suggested we try this dive site due to its vertical rock walls, abundance of filter feeding anthozoans such as Parazoanthus axinellae zoanthids and gorgonians, and easy access from shore. Here is a view from Google Earth of the Mediterranean coast of France with the yellow arrow showing the location of the dive: [/eng] 第二天，我们就去开始了潜水，希望能找到传说中的Corynactis viridis 。Yvan从来没有到过马赛这边潜水，因为相对于地中海（沿大西洋的海岸)生物少得多，不过他建议我们先试一下，因为这里的垂直岩石大陆架，会有大量的滤食性生物，如海绵，纽扣，大嘴巴。 下面是google earth 上看到的法国地中海地图，黄色线即我们潜水的地方 [eng] The dive site couldn’t have been located in a more convenient (and beautiful) spot.  As can be seen in the photo, there is a beach on a small cove near the road that skirts the coast.  Entry is right off the beach, followed by swimming just outside of the cove, about 100 meters from shore on the west (right hand) side.  I found it remarkable just how clear and blue the water is for being so near to the coast.  If only the Florida Keys could be so lucky… [/eng] 恐 怕不能找到比这里更方便又漂亮的潜水地方，就像下图一样，沿在海岸线的公路， 沙滩连着的小海湾，就在右手边的沙滩，游出小海弯约一百米左右，向西就是。不敢想像，离海岸这么近的地方居然有如此清彻的水，原来除了佛罗里达钥匙 （Florida Keys ）也叫"韦斯特",还有一个这么幸运的地方. [eng] The dive site was only about 100m offshore of the right side of the cove. [/eng] 离岸边一百米的地方，就是潜水过去的珊瑚礁 [eng] One of the first Mediterranean creatures to greet me was the commercially important Mediterranean lobster Panulirus elephas.  According to Yvan, it is rare to see these lobsters in such shallow water, near to shore… as they are heavily hunted for their tasty tail meat… [/eng] 第一个地中海的生物向我们致敬， 对于地中海的经济有着影响，叫"棘刺龙虾 Palinurns elephas" 按Yvan的说法，在这么浅的水，又靠近海岸，是非常少见的.他们正被过渡捕捞，放到人们的餐桌上 [eng] There are a number of very interesting, and photogenic, species of blennies and triplefins in the Mediterranean.  I was especially impressed with the males of the triplefin Tripterygion delaisi. [/eng] 这里有大量有趣的生物，特别地中海古B,下面是我拍的雄性古B [eng] It is apparently quite a rare sight to see a European Lobster Homarus gammarus, in such shallow water (about 8 meters). This one was located in the farthest reaches of a cave that was undercutting a vertical wall. [/eng] 很少见到的欧洲龙虾，在这么浅水的地方（约水深8米)，这个大家伙藏在垂直海岸岩石洞穴中 [eng] The Mediterranean hosts a surprisingly large number of species that belong to otherwise tropical genera.  These cardinalfish, Apogon imberbis,  are one such example.   They were found in the back of the same cave where the European Lobster was found. [/eng] 地中海生物非常多，拥有着其它热带海洋的生物，像这个Apogon imberbis欧洲天竺鲷,就是一个很好的例子，它被发现在刚找到的欧洲龙虾的地方 [eng] Parethrypodium coralloides is an encrusting Alcyonacean soft coral that often encrusts over gorgonians, which provide them with a convenient framework in which to feed for particulate matter in the water current.  This is quite similar to its Caribbean relatives Erythopodium caribeorum and Briareum asbestinum that are also well known for their encrusting and gorgonian overgrowth strategies. [/eng] Parethrypodium coralloides是一种有包着石头的鸡公花Alcyonacean 软珊瑚(LPS soft coral).这个硬身支架更有利于它们在水流中捕食。和加勒比海的Erythopodium caribeorum 和 鹿茸软珊瑚(Briareum asbestinum ) 一样，都是利用在石头上硬化而生长的策略 [eng] While looking very much like a true coral, this species Myriapora truncata is actually a bryozoan that forms hard branching colonies.  The  individual animal is known as a ‘zooid’, and each zooid has a ring of polyp-like tentacles that capture food particles. Unlike coral polyps, zooids have a complete digestive system with both a mouth and anus. [/eng] 看了许多珊瑚以后，我们找到了苔藓虫Myriapora truncata ，有着硬绑绑的分支和触须. 这个独一无二的生物，也叫'zooid'(单个流动的虫子) ，每一个单体都有能力去捕捉进食. 不像一般的珊瑚，每个单体都有完全的消化系统，有口和肛门. [eng] This is a lacy bryozoan; like corals, bryozoan species display a wide variety of growth patterns based on the repeated arrangement of individuals within the colony. Despite outward similarities in appearance and growth, corals and bryozoans are not closely related. However, they have adapted convergently to similar ecological niches. [/eng] 这是一个lacy bryozoan (苔藓虫)，他的形状会与个体的生长情况不同而改变。除了表面上向外生长之外，实际上它与珊瑚是搭不上边的。 然而，因为生态环境发生改变，它们也随之适应 [eng] This assemblage of sponges is typical for the region.  The yellow ’swiss cheese’-like sponge is of the genus Clathria.  Reef aquarists might recognize it based on its similarities to a tropical species that seems to sprout from nowhere and thrive in aquariums.  Orange, Yellow, and Pink seemed to me to be the bright colors that dominated and defined the rocky substrate at this location. [/eng] 聚集生成的海棉是这里的一大特色。黄色的“瑞士芝士"海棉. 鱼友们可能一样就认出它们，它们在鱼缸里无处不在。橙，黄，粉红，在这里随处可见 [eng] In addition to sponges (see photo above), the dive site was defined by an abundance of healthy plating pink coralline algae and gorgonians. [/eng] 除了海棉，还有大量的钙扁平钙化藻 [eng] Clumps of these gorgeous plankton-feeding Parazoanthus axinellae dominated the vertical walls and undercuts. [/eng] 这种漂亮的浮游生物为食的Parazoanthus axinellae (黄水熄体/黄喇叭)统占了整个垂直岩石层 [eng] So while the dive was extraordinarily interesting and produced a number of wonderful images, I was not successful in finding  Corynactis viridis.   It is probable that the waters are too clean and clear to satisfy these hungry planktivores. However, the sheer abundance of the ecologically similar Parazonthus axinellae confuses this hypothesis a bit. For the next dive site, we will choose a location that is a bit ‘dirtier’ in hopes of finding conditions that favor these corallimorphs… [/eng] 虽然这次潜水非常有趣，但我仍然没找到Corynactis viridis 也许是水太干净没法供及足够的食物让它们生存，但一堆的黄水熄作为有力的说法推翻了这个假设。不过怎样，下一次的潜水将会找一个脏一点地方，希望能找到它们吧