
The fish in Alfonso Barone's net are hauled aboard off Sicily half- eaten, ravaged by bearded fireworms, a voracious predator flourishing in the increasingly warm Mediterranean sea.
The centipede-like creatures, around 15 to 30 centimetres (6-12 inches) long, devour everything from coral to the dying or dead catch in fishing nets -- and rising sea temperatures caused by climate change are drastically boosting their numbers.