Animals in Greece

Animals in Greece live across mountains, lakes, islands and open sea. Outings with a host run through these same regions of the country. Topics include the monk seal, loggerhead turtle, kri-kri, Aegean cat, Jersey tiger moth and argonaut. Amphibians, lake fish, butterflies and electric rays complete the list. Related pages are Birdwatching in Greece, Greece wildlife tours and national parks in Greece. More trips appear under Greece tours.

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What are the animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece form a long list that spans carnivores, hoofed mammals, rodents, endemic river fish and amphibians. Greek records count 25 or 26 amphibian species alone. Three of them are endemic, meaning they live nowhere else on earth.

The carnivores among animals in Greece include the American mink and the least weasel. A carnivore is a mammal whose body is built to eat meat. The European polecat and the marbled polecat appear on the same Greek list. Two martens join them there, namely the beech marten and the European pine marten.

The endangered Cretan ibex stands among the hoofed animals in Greece. Endangered means at serious risk of dying out. European rabbits and European hares also live in the country. The European mole shares the soil with about ten species of shrew. A shrew is a small, mouse-like mammal with a pointed snout.

Rivers and lakes add a long list of native fish. Five barbels, members of the carp family, are endemic, and the Evia barbel lives only on Euboea. Four chubs, three roaches and two rudds hold the same status. The whole minnowroach genus, Tropidophoxinellus, is endemic to Greek fresh water. A genus gathers closely linked species into one named group.

• Threatened: The Karpathos frog, the Cretan frog and the Lycian salamander are all assessed as endangered.
• Islands: The Syrian spadefoot, a burrowing toad, occurs on a number of Greek islands.
• Records: A 2020 atlas of Greek amphibians and reptiles forms the base of the amphibian list.

Rodents swell the count of animals in Greece, with around thirty species on record. A rodent is a gnawing mammal with long front teeth. That Greek total covers squirrels and dormice as well as mice, rats and voles.

Why does the Mediterranean monk seal matter so much among animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the Mediterranean monk seal, believed to be the rarest pinniped on earth. Pinnipeds are sea mammals with fin-like feet, such as walruses. The island of Gyaros holds the largest breeding population of this endangered species.

Among sea animals in Greece, the monk seal starts small and grows heavy. A newborn measures about 80 centimetres. Adult males then average 320 kilograms, while adult females average 300 kilograms. Reproductive maturity, the age at which an animal can breed, arrives at around four years old. Females stay slightly shorter than males.

Births come all year, though a clear peak falls across September, October and November. Just 29% of pups arriving from September through January survive. Pups from other months reach an estimated survival rate of 71%. They first touch the water two weeks after birth. Weaning, the move off milk, comes at around 18 weeks.

Commercial hunting cut seal numbers, especially during the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages. Twentieth-century fishermen saw the seal as a pest and tried to wipe it out. Their complaint was damage to fishing nets when seals took the catch. Coastal building and pollution added further pressure on these animals in Greece and elsewhere.

• Feeding depth: Monk seals forage at depths of up to 250 metres below the surface.
• Hunting style: They favour wide-open spaces for hunting, which lets them make good use of speed.
• Flippers: The flippers stay relatively short and end in small, slender claws.

Among sea animals in Greece, this seal is thought to live 20 to 25 years on average. Pregnancy, known as gestation, runs for nearly a year. Breeding starts at age six in males, and mothers nurse pups from stored fat.

How does the loggerhead sea turtle shape the story of animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece gain a famous reptile in the loggerhead sea turtle. It is the largest hard-shelled turtle in the world. Greek beaches record more than 3,000 of its nests per year. Only the leatherback ranks above it among living turtles in overall size.

A long life marks this reptile among animals in Greece. Its estimated maximum lifespan in the wild runs from 47 to 67 years. Females first reproduce between the ages of 17 and 33. A nesting female lays an average of 3.9 clutches, or batches of eggs. She then rests from egg laying for two to three years.

The nesting numbers behind these animals in Greece are large. Each clutch averages 112.4 eggs, and a single clutch can have up to seven fathers. Females return at intervals of 12 to 17 days during the nesting season. They come back to lay at or close to the beach where they themselves hatched.

The loggerhead spends up to 85% of its day below the surface. Its dives can last more than ten hours. Glands behind each eye clear the excess salt taken in from sea water. On land, that salt gives the false impression that the turtle is crying. Scientists call these tear-making organs lachrymal glands.

• Jaws: Loggerheads break up their prey by crushing it with large, powerful jaws.
• False claws: Scale points on the forelimbs work as false claws that tear up large food.
• Navigation: Magnetite, an iron compound in the brain, lets the turtle sense Earth’s magnetic field.

The shell of these animals in Greece works as outer armour. Yet a loggerhead cannot pull its head or flippers inside. Fights between females are common, and access to feeding grounds is the main cause. A curled tail shows a turtle’s willingness to submit.

Where does the Eurasian brown bear stand among animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include around 870 Eurasian brown bears, a small but still significant population. These bears form part of the Dinaric-Pindos group in the Balkans. That wider, shared population of the region holds around 3000 individual animals in all.

Body size is the first measure of these animals in Greece and across Eurasia. A full-grown male averages between 350 and 500 kilograms. The maximum male weight is 650 kilograms, and length reaches nearly 2.5 metres. Females range between 150 and 300 kilograms. Wild bears live for 20 to 30 years.

The fur of these animals in Greece ranges from yellowish brown and red-brown to almost black. Single hairs can grow up to 10 centimetres long. A round head carries small rounded ears and a wide skull. The mouth holds 42 teeth, predatory teeth among them. Large paws end in claws that also reach up to 10 centimetres.

Diet has changed sharply over time. In antiquity, animal matter made up 80% of what this bear ate. As its habitat shrank, meat fell to only 40% by the late Middle Ages. Today, meat forms little more than 10-15% of the diet. Whenever possible, this bear still eats sheep.

• Ice age: Older DNA studies picked out Russia, Spain and the Balkans as refuges of European bears.
• Family tree: The European family split into two branches, one spanning Iberia and the Balkans.
• Name: Linnaeus gave the bear its scientific name, Ursus arctos arctos, back in 1758.

Neighbouring figures put these animals in Greece in context, with Turkey at around 4,000 bears. Romania holds around 13,000. Bear groups inside the European Union are growing scarcer, though the global species ranks as Least Concern. That label means the lowest level of global risk.

What makes the chamois one of the mountain animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the chamois, a goat-antelope native to the high ranges of Europe and Western Asia. The Pindus is among those ranges. A goat-antelope is a hoofed mammal with features of both goats and antelopes. This one lives on steep rock.

Standing 70 to 80 centimetres high, an adult chamois is a small hoofed animal. Male weight runs from 30 to 60 kilograms, slightly above the 25 to 45 kilograms of females. Both sexes carry short, nearly straight horns, each bent back close to its tip. The male’s horn is the thicker of the two.

Among hoofed animals in Greece, the chamois changes colour with the seasons. Summer fur is a rich brown, and winter fur turns light grey. White marks cross the sides of the head, with black stripes below the eyes. The rump is white, and a black stripe runs along the back.

Among these animals in Greece, herds of up to 15 to 30 hold females and their young. Adult males spend the larger share of the year alone. Pregnancy, called gestation, lasts 170 days. Young chamois, called kids, are weaned at six months and fully grown within one year. Sexual maturity follows at three to four years.

• Speed: Escaping predators, this animal reaches 50 kilometres per hour at a run.
• Jumping: It can jump 2 metres straight up or cover 6 metres in one leap.
• Height: Its rugged, rocky home reaches at least 3,600 metres above the sea.

Food changes with the season for these animals in Greece and across Europe. Highland grasses and herbs fill the summer diet, while conifers, bark and needles carry winter feeding. Wild chamois reach an average recorded age of 15 to 17 years.

Which island story does the kri-kri add to animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the kri-kri, a goat found today only in Greece. It lives on Crete and nearby islets. Its other names are the Cretan goat and the Cretan ibex. The species is a recognised symbol of the island of Crete.

Among hoofed animals in Greece, the kri-kri wears a light brownish coat. A darker band circles the neck. Two horns curve back from the head. In the wild the animals are shy and avoid people, resting through the day. They can leap a fair distance or climb cliffs that look almost sheer.

Experts doubt that the kri-kri is native to Crete. Researchers think it reached the island during the time of the Minoan civilisation. Minoan here refers to a Bronze Age culture of Crete. The species was once widespread across the Aegean. The peaks of the White Mountains, at 2,400 metres in western Crete, are now its last strongholds.

War and law both touch the long story of these animals in Greece. During the German occupation in World War II, mountain fighters had no other meat. Its status helped turn the Samaria Gorge into a national park in 1962. Hunting of the animal is now strictly prohibited.

• Art: Archaeological excavations have brought depictions of the kri-kri back to light.
• Belief: One group of academics believes the animal was worshipped in ancient times.
• Threat: Interbreeding with ordinary goats counts as a threat to the kri-kri population today.

Genetic work gives these animals in Greece a long timeline. The kri-kri is a living snapshot of early goat taming, nearly ten thousand years old. Taming of this kind is known as domestication. Recent releases have placed more of the animals on two further islands.

Is the Eurasian otter one of the river animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the Eurasian otter, listed in Greek wildlife records beside the European badger. It is a semiaquatic mammal, one that lives partly in water and partly on land. It is the widest-ranging member of the otter family across Eurasia and the Maghreb.

Brown fur covers the back of this slender animal, and cream fur covers the belly. Its bones show osteosclerosis, a thickening that raises bone density and reduces the tendency to float. The body measures 57 to 95 centimetres, not counting a tail of 35 to 45 centimetres. Average weight sits at 7 to 12 kilograms.

Clean fresh water defines the home of these animals in Greece and across their wider range. The otter inhabits unpolluted lakes, streams, rivers, canals and ponds, as long as food is plentiful. It also lives along coasts in salt water. Even there it must reach fresh water at regular times to wash its fur.

Fish form the main food, particularly in Mediterranean and temperate freshwater habitats. In winter, the menu widens to worms, clams, crustaceans, insects, eggs, birds and small mammals. A crustacean is a hard-shelled water animal, such as a crab. Among hunting animals in Greece, the otter can overpower prey much larger than itself.

• Territory: An otter’s territory can run from 1 to 40 kilometres, with about 18 usual.
• Markers: Its faeces, known as spraints, mark the territory and its food resources.
• Neighbours: Territories are defended only against the same sex, so male and female ranges can overlap.

Among solitary animals in Greece, the otter is strongly territorial and lives alone. It is endangered in parts of its range, yet it is recovering in others. A large old male can reach up to 17 kilograms, well above the average.

How did the Aegean cat join the animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the Aegean cat, the only native Greek landrace of cat. A landrace is a local type shaped by natural conditions rather than by breeders. This one comes from the Cycladic Islands of Greece and western Turkey.

Cats reached these islands during the Bronze Age. The Aegean therefore ranks among the oldest domesticated cat types on record. Feral cats, meaning cats living wild, are common in Greece and Turkey. Fishing ports are a favourite place, where they ask for food offerings. Among domestic animals in Greece, they are considered a national treasure.

These are medium-sized, muscular, semi-longhaired cats. The coat shows two or three colours, and one of them is almost always white. White covers between 25% and 90% of the body. The eyes are almond-shaped, in any shade of green, blue or yellow. The tail can be long and hooked. Ears have rounded tips.

Selective breeding of the Aegean as a formal breed began in the early 1990s. Greek cat fanciers, meaning hobby breeders, started that work. No major breeder organisation has recognised it so far. Natural selection shaped the type, so it stays clear of the bulk of feline genetic diseases. These animals in Greece have lived beside people for centuries.

• Water: Aegean cats are noted for a liking for water and for fishing.
• Cyclades: Wild-living cats here rank as notable hunters of Aegean wall lizards.
• Temper: It is a clever, active and communicative pet that draws attention to itself.

Unlike pedigree animals in Greece, this cat developed without human interference. As a pet, it tolerates apartment life rather well. Its temperament is described as intelligent and lively. Its paws are medium in size and round in shape.

What link does the Aesculapian snake give animals in Greece to ancient medicine?

Animals in Greece include the Aesculapian snake, a non-venomous constrictor. Its European range runs down the Balkan peninsula to Greece. Its name honours the classical god of healing, Asclepius to the Greeks and Aesculapius to the later Romans.

Ancient temples of the healing god encouraged this snake around their grounds. The usual image of the god holds a staff with a snake wound round it. Scholars surmise that the image shows this species. Modern symbols of the medical professions grew from those images. The snake also held a role in ancient Greek, Roman and Illyrian mythology.

Its scientific name is Zamenis longissimus. Zamenis comes from a Greek word for angry, irritable or fierce. Longissimus is Latin for longest. Among reptile animals in Greece, this snake can grow up to 2 metres. A normal adult measures from 110 to 160 centimetres. Its estimated lifespan is 25 to 30 years.

These animals in Greece have a slender body, bronze in colour, with smooth scales that shine like metal. Small mammals form its main food, including shrews, moles and rodents up to rat size. A constrictor suffocates its prey by coiling around it. The young feed largely on lizards and arthropods, a group that holds insects.

• Climbing: It climbs very well and can scale even vertical trunks that have no branches.
• Rivals: Rival males fight by pinning down each other’s heads with coils of their bodies.
• Eggs: About 10 eggs are laid in a warm, moist spot four to six weeks after mating.

Among animals in Greece with an ancient past, this snake also suits old human sites. It prefers old walls, derelict buildings and ruins, which offer places to hide and bask. It turns up in gardens and sheds too, and it can be rather tame.

Where do Erhard’s wall lizards fit among the animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include Erhard’s wall lizard, also known as the Aegean wall lizard. It is a small reptile of the Balkan peninsula and the Aegean islands. On the mainland its range reaches south to the northeastern corner of the Peloponnese.

The name honours Dr D. Erhard, a German naturalist who wrote Fauna der Cycladen in 1858. That title means the animal life of the Cyclades islands. The lizard is absent from Milos and the islands around it. The Milos wall lizard takes its place there among animals in Greece.

The body measures about 7 centimetres from snout to vent, the rear opening. The tail is twice as long. Main colour runs to grey or brown, and sometimes green. Females are commonly striped, while certain males show net-like patterning. Bellies can be white, yellow, orange or red. Aegean island forms add green, blue or grey.

Dry or rocky places with dense, low bushes suit these animals in Greece and the wider Balkans. The lizards climb very well. Populations in the Aegean archipelago also use open places, such as plant-covered dunes. Food consists of arthropods, the group that holds insects and spiders, and insects top the list.

• Breeding: It mates in spring and lays its eggs at the start of summer.
• Young: The young lizards hatch in September and measure 3 centimetres at that stage.
• Camouflage: It picks backgrounds matching its colour, which helps it hide from hunting birds.

Scientists have described 28 subspecies of these animals in Greece and the Balkans. Later work accepts only four of them as valid. A subspecies is a local form within one species. The head is rather wide, and the skin is smooth.

Why does the Greek stream frog count among animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the Greek stream frog, also called simply the Greek frog. Its range covers Greece and seven other countries, from Albania and Bulgaria to Turkey. The IUCN, the world conservation body, does not consider it threatened.

Natural habitats for these animals in Greece include temperate forests, temperate grassland, rivers and pastureland. Freshwater springs and rivers that run only at certain times also suit it. Reproduction happens once a year, starting shortly after hibernation in February. Hibernation is a long winter rest with a slowed body. The season ends in April.

Breeding begins with a call from the male among these animals in Greece. The call can come from under the water surface or above it, mainly during the night. Males also call by day, depending on water temperature. Dark crevices in the bank, under roots or stones, are the first choice for calling and mating.

The egg masses attach to the roof of a cavity. Each mass holds anywhere from 200 to 2000 eggs. A single egg measures 2 to 3.5 millimetres across. A protective jelly coat of 4 to 7 millimetres surrounds it. Observers also report that males can guard the eggs for a certain time.

• Larvae: Newly hatched larvae, or tadpoles, measure about 9 millimetres in length.
• Growth: They grow up to 45 millimetres within two to three months.
• Adults: The young frogs reach sexual maturity after their third hibernation.

Among amphibian animals in Greece, the species belongs to the frog family known as Ranidae. Its scientific name, Rana graeca, translates as Greek frog. Water temperature can slow the growth of the young frogs beyond that two to three month span.

What is the Macedonian shad, and why is it rare among animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the Macedonian shad, a freshwater fish also named liparia. It is endemic to Greece, which means it lives nowhere else. Its range is restricted to Lake Volvi, in the Mygdonia catchment, or drainage area, of northern Greece.

Shads commonly move between the sea and fresh water, but this one has become landlocked. Landlocked means cut off from the sea. Research suggests its ancestors lived in marine regions of the Aegean Sea. Italian scientist Decio Vinciguerra first described the species formally in 1921. Its name means of Macedonia, the Greek region it belongs to.

Lake life follows the seasons for these animals in Greece. The fish stays in the upper layers of the lake during warmer months. It moves to deeper water in cooler parts of the year. Adults measure about 181 to 230 millimetres. The spine holds about 50 vertebrae, the small bones of the backbone.

Among lake animals in Greece, breeding here happens once a year, from mid-June to mid-August. Zooplankton, the tiny animals that drift in water, form its main food. Larger individuals prefer a diet of fish, including Knipowitschia caucasica and Rhodeus amarus. The fish was once caught commercially, and Greek records list it among endemic lake fish.

• Status: The world conservation union classes this shad as critically endangered in the wild.
• Threats: Pollution, invasive species and falling lake levels from water extraction all threaten it.
• Lake Koroneia: A claimed presence in nearby Lake Koroneia has never been confirmed.

Scientific records tie these animals in Greece to Lake Besikia, named in the first formal description. The fish first carried the name Clupea macedonica before its move to the genus Alosa. Its gills carry 106-128 rakers, comb-like parts that filter food from water.

Why does the Jersey tiger moth stand out among animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the Jersey tiger, a day-flying moth also called the Spanish flag. Large groups of its Rhodes subspecies gather in summer at Petaloudes. Visitors know that place on the island as the Valley of the Butterflies.

A first scientific description came from Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus in 1761. Its wings span 52 to 65 millimetres in adults. Flight lasts from July to September, with timing set by location. Among insect animals in Greece, the local form is the subspecies rhodosensis. It lives in western Turkey and on nearby Greek islands.

Red underwings mark adults across the greater part of the range. In the northwest, the underwings can also be orange or yellow. The colour works as a warning signal, called aposematism, to possible predators. It tells them the moth tastes bad and carries harmful chemicals. Two genes create the colour differences.

The caterpillars of these animals in Greece and across Europe feed from September to the fifth month. Their food includes nettles, raspberries, dandelion, lettuce and borage. Ground-ivy, groundsel and plantain also appear on the list. The insect survives winter as a small larva, the young caterpillar stage. Adults stay near hemp-agrimony, a flowering plant, when flying.

• Range: The species spreads across Europe from Estonia and Latvia down to the Mediterranean.
• Migration: Individuals are known to head north in summer, away from regular breeding grounds.
• Name: The name Jersey tiger comes from the moth’s frequent presence in the Channel Islands.

Law gives these animals in Greece special weight across the European Union. The Jersey tiger is the only moth or butterfly named a priority species under the Habitats Directive. Its home areas can gain the legal label of Special Areas of Conservation.

What song and myth does the cicada bring to animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the cicada, a loud tree insect with a long Greek literary past. Cicadas appear in writing as far back as Homer’s Iliad. The ancient Greeks made a cicada seated on a harp their sign for music.

The myth comes from the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite. Eos, goddess of the dawn, asked Zeus to let her lover Tithonus live forever. Zeus agreed, yet Eos forgot to ask that he also stay ageless. Tithonus grew old, shrank and shrivelled, and he finally became the first cicada.

Ancient writers kept returning to these animals in Greece. Aristotle described cicadas in his History of Animals. Hesiod mentioned how they make sound in his poem Works and Days. His poem the Shield says the cicada sings when millet, a small grain, first ripens. Cicadas were also eaten in Ancient Greece.

Insect science counts more than 3,000 species in the main cicada family, Cicadidae. A cicada has prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae and thin, skin-like front wings. Its loud song comes from tymbals, drum-like organs that buckle and unbuckle rapidly. These animals in Greece and elsewhere live in trees and feed on watery sap.

• Eggs: Cicadas place their eggs in a slit made in the bark of trees.
• Nymphs: Annual cicadas spend one to nine or more years underground as young nymphs.
• Daytime: A large majority of species stay active through the daylight hours as adults.

Myth and folklore have used these animals in Greece and elsewhere as symbols of carefree living and immortality. Hesiod called the insect the tuneful Tettix. Annual species emerge each year, though their arrival above ground is not synchronised. Synchronised means happening at one time.

Does the Apollo butterfly belong on a list of animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the Apollo butterfly, whose European range runs through the Balkans up to northern Greece. Naturalists named this white mountain insect in the classical tradition for the god Apollo. It is also called the mountain Apollo.

This butterfly prefers hills and flowery alpine meadows, along with pastures of continental mountains. Its habitat runs from 400 metres up to 2,300 metres. Numbers rise sharply above 1,000 metres. It needs cold winters and sunny summers, plus wide open spaces. Shrubs must cover less than 5% of the ground, and lawns at least 50%.

Among winged animals in Greece, the Apollo is large and easy to notice. Males have a wingspan of 62 to 86 millimetres, and females 65 to 95 millimetres. White wings carry five large black eyespots on the forewing and two bright red ones on the hindwing. An eyespot is a round mark that looks like an eye.

The red colour fades in the sun, so older butterflies show more orange eyespots. These animals in Greece and abroad vary a great deal in appearance. The caterpillars are velvety black with orange-red spots along the sides. The presence of their host plant, the plant they feed on, is critical.

• Ice age: Pleistocene climate change split populations and helped create the butterfly’s colour differences.
• Glaciers: Large glaciers formed a physical barrier between the separated groups during the glacial period.
• Relatives: The clouded Apollo lives in valleys, and the small Apollo lives high in the mountains.

Among flying animals in Greece, adult Apollos feed on nectar produced by flowers. During mating, a male leaves a gel-like secretion, the sphragis, on the female’s abdomen. This secretion stops the female from mating a second time. This species has a single brood.

Which frog lives only on Crete among the animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the Cretan frog, an endangered species found only on the island of Crete. Scientists first recognised it as a distinct species in 1994. A team ran genetic testing on 41 specimens collected during the 1980s.

Its closest living relatives are the marsh frogs, a group of similar frogs. Researchers place their last common ancestor around 5.4 million years ago. That date roughly matches a great flood that refilled the Mediterranean basin with seawater. The flood isolated Crete from Anatolia and split the frogs from their continental relatives.

Among amphibian animals in Greece, this medium-sized frog reaches up to 8 centimetres and 40 grams. Its back is light grey to brown, mottled with brown or olive-grey spots. A prominent dark brown fold of skin runs down the back. It is shy, basks out of water and jumps in when threatened.

Huge numbers once lived in Lake Agia, one of only two freshwater lakes on Crete. In 2000, a Chania bullfrog breeder released all of his American bullfrogs into that lake. The American bullfrog is four times bigger than the Cretan frog and far more aggressive. Cretan frogs have now been almost completely displaced from Lake Agia.

• Eggs: Each female produces as much as 5000 eggs, and hatching takes about a week.
• Diet: Cretan frogs favour aquatic insects, snails and small crustaceans, taking prey that is readily available.
• Range: These animals in Greece live at altitudes of up to 920 metres on Crete.

Males of these animals in Greece develop prominent vocal sacs on their throats when breeding. Vocal sacs are stretchy pouches that make calls louder. Males defend their territories with calls and physical fights. Wild frogs live for six to eight years.

How did the argonaut earn a Greek name among animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece and Greek myth meet in the argonaut, a floating octopus named after the Argo’s sailors. Greeks believed it crossed the sea surface using two arms as sails. The greater argonaut’s reference specimen came from the Mediterranean.

The Greek word nautilos, also used for these creatures, literally means sailor. In reality, an argonaut swims by pushing water out through its funnel, like any other octopus. It also lives close to the surface rather than on the seabed. Pelagic, a word used for such animals in Greece, means open-sea.

The name paper nautilus refers to the paper-thin eggcase that females produce. Females grow up to 10 centimetres and make cases up to 30 centimetres. Males rarely pass 2 centimetres. A female lays her eggs in this floating case and then shelters inside it. A bubble of air, caught at the surface, keeps the case afloat.

Among hunting animals in Greece, argonauts eat small crustaceans, molluscs, jellyfish and salps. Salps are jelly-like drifting animals. Under attack, they release ink that blocks the attacker’s sense of smell. Females can also pull back part of the shell cover to make a silvery flash. Tunas, billfishes and dolphins hunt them.

• Males: Males mate only once, and a detached arm stays behind with the female.
• Old error: Early scientists described that detached arm as a parasitic worm when they found it in females.
• Proof: Jeanne Villepreux-Power proved by rearing young that argonauts build their own cases.

Among sea animals in Greece named from myth, the greater argonaut was the first argonaut species described. Its eggcase reaches a recorded 300 millimetres. Live animals show a blue sheen on the first arm pair and around the eyes.

Why did ancient Greeks value the electric ray among animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include electric rays, flat fish that can stun prey with an electric discharge. The ancient Greeks used them to numb the pain of childbirth and operations. The marbled electric ray is the commonest electric ray in the Mediterranean Sea.

Greek philosophy also drew on these animals in Greece. In his dialogue Meno, Plato has Meno accuse Socrates of numbing people with puzzling questions. The comparison is with the way the torpedo fish stuns by electricity. Later, the Roman physician Scribonius Largus recorded its use for headaches and gout in 46 AD.

Electric rays form 69 species in four families. Their discharge ranges from 8 to 220 volts, depending on species. The marbled electric ray produces 70 to 80 volts from paired organs. Two kidney-shaped organs sit at the base of the wide side fins. Honeycomb columns inside them hold 500 to more than 1,000 plaques of modified muscle.

Marbled males reach 36 to 38 centimetres, and females reach 55 to 61 centimetres. Females bear litters of 3 to 32 pups every other year. Gestation, or pregnancy, lasts 9 to 12 months. A newborn ray can use electricity to hunt right away. These bottom-dwelling animals in Greece and beyond are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

• Movement: Electric rays swim slowly and drive themselves with their tails, not their side fins.
• Hunting: They lie in wait below the sand, then stun passing prey with electricity.
• Name: The torpedo weapon takes its name from this fish, from Latin torpere, to stiffen.

Among coastal animals in Greece, the marbled electric ray feeds almost entirely on small bony fishes. It lies on the sea floor, buried except for its eyes and spiracles. A spiracle is a small breathing hole behind the eye.

What do striped dolphins add to the sea animals in Greece?

Animals in Greece include the striped dolphin, a sea mammal also known as the euphrosyne dolphin. A disease outbreak of the early 1990s reached its population in the Aegean Sea. It also spread across the western Mediterranean and the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Among sea animals in Greece, a striped dolphin weighs about 10 kilograms at birth. It measures up to a metre at that point. Adult females reach 2.4 metres and 150 kilograms, while males reach 2.6 metres and 160 kilograms. Longevity is about 55 to 60 years. Research suggests that Mediterranean females reach sexual maturity at 12 years.

Colour makes these animals in Greece and elsewhere easy to notice at sea. The underside is blue, white or pink. One or two black bands circle the eyes and run across the back to the flipper. Two further black stripes start behind the ear. Above those stripes, the flanks are light blue or grey.

Striped dolphins move in large groups, up to thousands strong. Mediterranean groups can be smaller. They breach and jump far above the surface in frequent acrobatics. They sometimes approach boats in the Mediterranean, a habit much rarer in the Pacific. They can dive to depths of 700 metres to hunt deeper prey.

• Water: Its standard water temperature range lies between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius.
• Calves: Gestation lasts about 12 months, with a three or four year gap between calves.
• Numbers: The world population of striped dolphins stands in excess of two million.

Conservationists worry over these animals in Greece and across the Mediterranean. Pollution, disease, busy shipping lanes and accidental net catches threaten them. More than 1,000 carcasses were examined during that outbreak, and a dolphin morbillivirus was the main cause. Morbillivirus is a measles-type virus.

What do travellers ask about animals in Greece, and what are the answers?

Animals in Greece draw four recurring questions. They concern the Karpathos frog, the purple sea urchin, the Balkan lynx and the Karpathos salamander. Two of these creatures are island amphibians. One is a sea animal eaten in the country, and one is a rare wild cat.

Before a trip, which frog among animals in Greece lives on Karpathos and Rhodes?

The Karpathos frog is endemic to the islands of Karpathos and Rhodes. Both lie in the South Aegean Sea of Greece. On Karpathos it is found at four localities near Olympos village, in under 10 square kilometres. Its range climbs from sea level to heights of 500 metres there.

Are sea urchins among the animals in Greece that people eat?

The purple sea urchin occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Its gonads, the egg and sperm organs, count as a delicacy in France and Italy. They are also eaten, to a lesser extent, in Greece. It lives just below low water, at depths down to twenty metres.

Does the Balkan lynx still live among the animals in Greece?

Reports place the Balkan lynx in the southwestern Balkans, potentially including Greece. This subspecies of the Eurasian lynx, a short-tailed wild cat, is considered the largest cat in the Balkans. Total numbers are estimated at fewer than 50, and it has been near extinction for nearly a century.

Which salamander among animals in Greece lives only on three Aegean islands?

The Karpathos salamander is endemic to Karpathos, Saria and Kasos, in the southeast Aegean Sea. A salamander is an amphibian with a lizard shape and soft, moist skin. The female gives birth to fully developed young, with fewer than three in a litter. It is listed as vulnerable, known from fewer than five locations.