Water fauna and Sicilian coins from the Greek period

The close link between the coastal populations of the Mediterranean and the sea and sea-life is clear from the frequent representation of numerous marine creatures on a wide range of archaeological and numismatic evidence. Coins depicting a range of water fauna, very often in great detail, can make a fundamental contribution in identifying species that were already present in the Mediterranean during ancient times. This rediscovery of local species has been made possible thanks to inter-disciplinary analysis with the field of marine biology. Just a few examples of such re-discovered species include a bivalve mollusc identified from the litras struck by the mint of Catana, the shell Pelorias, widespread in the transitional waters of Capo Peloro, engraved on the coinage of Zancle-Messana, and a type of crab, present on various denominations from the city of Acragas. All these images also bear a strong symbolic significance, sometimes an inheritance of more ancient imagery, often linked to local identities or part of a wider cultural koiné, that is identifiable through comparisons