Sea Date, Lithophaga lithophaga, grows and lives inside the rocks, so it is practically impossible to see and film it unless the rock where it is found is shattered, an obviously illegal practice, prohibited by the regulations of all Mediterranean countries. Consequently, fishing is also prohibited and those who practice it are finally punished with severe and heavy sanctions, unless it is our usual friend the common octopus, Octopus vulgaris, who does it.

While snorkeling along a stretch of coral reef on Redang Island in Malaysia we found this Adanson's slit shell in a few meters of seabed. The encounter, quite unusual given that the mollusc lives at great depths, is due to the fact that it was probably brought there by some deep-sea fisherman while cleaning the fishing nets...