The Acquatina marsh area is a coastal marsh lake located on the Adriatic Sea shore of the Salento peninsula about 13 km North-East of Lecce (40.4425N – 18.2376E). It is linked to the nearby sea by a channel 15 m wide and 400 m long. The principal freshwater inputs are a lateral ramification of the Giammatteo canal  (on the northern boundary of the lake) and rainfall. A long time ago the area was part of a system of marsh areas periodically invaded by the sea.