Name of Site: Żona fil-Baħar bejn Il-Ponta tal-Ħotba u Tal-Fessej (Għawdex)
Site Code: MT0000104
Year of designation: 2012/2018 update
Area [ha]: 168.84
Annex 1 Protected Habitats:
- 1110 Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time
- 1120 Posidonia beds (Posidonion oceanicae)
- 1170 Reefs
- 8330 Submerged or partially submerged sea caves
Importance:
The Posidonia meadows present within this site comprise small patches with average shoot densities. Regarding reefs, the biotopes present in the inlet and beyond its mouth are typical of ones found along the south-western coast of the Maltese Islands. Sand banks are also present at this site. In fact, vegetation belonging to the Cymodoceion nodosae
is present in several places inside the inlet present at this site, where it mainly forms monospecific stands.
Regarding caves, assemblages of sciaphilic algae present on hard substrata at the mouth and entrance of caves are characterised by species such as the chlorophytes Palmophyllum crassum, Cladophora prolifera and Flabellia petiolata, and sciaphilic brown algae such as Halopteris filicina and Zonaria tourneforti. The most common type of flora found are red algae (Rhodophyta), such as Lithophyllum incrustans and Peysonnelia squamarina. This site was proposed as an SCI in 2010, confirmed as an SCI in 2012 and was then extended in 2018.
