Acquario di Messina

The Aquarium of Messina is the only scientific facility of its kind existing in southern Italy along with the Aquarium of Naples. It was built inside Villa Mazzini in the early 60s by the Thalassographic Institute of Messina, thanks to a special funding granted by the Sicily Region. In 1986 it was loaned to the Municipality of Messina, which managed it until the establishment of CeSPOM. The facility houses about 70 different species of fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and reptiles of the Mediterranean in 22 tanks with variable capacity from 2,500 to 18,000 liters of water, supplied with open-circuit seawater taken directly from the Strait of Messina.