This short piece comments on the articles presented in the forum on Adriatic tourism and their analyses of competing historical claims to “our Adriatic.” The comment focuses on questions raised about ownership of the sea and the Adriatic's borders of belonging. While sovereignty over areas of the Adriatic has proven an enduring diplomatic issue in both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the forum authors instead consider claims by different types of actors: tourists (particularly Czech tourists who claimed a special relationship between Czechs and their South Slav “brothers”); investors in hotels and related infrastructure; socialist Yugoslav tourism planners; and environmentalists concerned with issues of pollution. In tracing out tensions in the agendas of hosts and visitors, as well as planners and scientists, the forum's essays measure and map the socio-ecological metabolism of the modern eastern Adriatic.

One shark was landed at the Naval Base Pasha Liman, Bay of Vlore, Albania, the Adriatic Sea. Photographic records only enabled the specimen to be placed in family Odontaspididae or Carchariidae. Later examination of the preserved head, dry jaw and dentition identified the specimen as Odontaspis ferox. This is a rare record and the northernmost Mediterranean observation of this species, and the first Adriatic record for several decades.

Although it is generally known that a combination of abiotic and biotic drivers shapes the distribution and abundance of parasites, our understanding of the interplay of these factors remains to be assessed for most marine host species. The present field survey investigated spatial patterns of richness, prevalence and abundance of parasites in Mytilus galloprovincialis along the coast of the northern Adriatic Sea. Herein, the relationships between biotic (host size, density and local parasite richness of mussel population) and abiotic (eutrophication and salinity) drivers and parasite richness of mussel individuals, prevalence and abundance were analysed. Local parasite richness was the most relevant factor driving parasite species richness in mussel individuals. Prevalence was mainly driven by eutrophication levels in three out of four parasite species analysed. Similarly, abundance was driven mainly by eutrophication in two parasite species. Mussel size, density and salinity had only minor contributions to the best fitting models. This study highlights that the influence of abiotic and biotic drivers on parasite infections in mussels can be differentially conveyed, depending on the infection measure applied, i.e. parasite richness, prevalence or abundance. Furthermore, it stresses the importance of eutrophication as a major factor influencing parasite prevalence and abundance in mussels in the Adriatic Sea.

During the summer of 2013 two scientific surveys (northern, at the beginning of July and southern, at the end of July) were carried out along the eastern Adriatic Sea. In these surveys, ichthyoplankton samples of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, Linnaeus 1758) eggs and larvae were collected. In the whole investigated area, egg and larvae abundance varied from 2.61 to 1040.24 eggs m−2 (geometric mean ± CL: 25.43 ± 1.48 eggs m−2) and 2.73 larvae m−2 to 611.14 larvae m−2 (geometric mean ± CL: 17.07 ± 1.41 larvae m−2), respectively. Higher abundance of anchovy early life stages was noted in the northern part of the investigated area. The length of the collected specimens lay within the range of 2.39–3.68 mm and those individuals were less than 12 h old. Analysis of spatial and temporal distribution of collected anchovy early life stages indicated their higher abundance in areas of upwelling (four areas were distinguished on the eastern Adriatic side). Larger and older specimens were collected at the beginning of July in the northern part of Adriatic indicating that the anchovy population in the Adriatic tends to shift among its spawning centres in this area. In general, anchovy eggs were accompanied by its larvae (r = 0.453, P < 0.05), while statistically significant negative correlation was obtained between egg abundance and temperature (r = −0.380, P < 0.05) as well as sea depth (r = −0.321, P < 0.05).

This article examines extended debates after World War II over the repatriation of Italian civilians from Albania, part of the Italian fascist empire from 1939 until 1943. Italy's decolonization, when it is studied at all, usually figures as rapid and non-traumatic, and an inevitable byproduct of Italy's defeat in the war. The tendency to gloss over the complexities of decolonization proves particularly marked in the Albanian case, given the brevity of Italy's formal rule over that country and the overwhelming historiographical focus on the Italian military experience there. In recovering the complex history of Italian and Albanian relations within which negotiations over repatriation occurred, this article demonstrates the prolonged process of imperial repatriation and its consequences for the individuals involved. In some cases, Italian citizens, and their families, only “returned” home to Italy in the 1990s. The repatriation of these “remainders” of empire concerned not only the Italian and Albanian states but also local committees (notably the Circolo Garibaldi) and international organizations, including the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and the International Committee of the Red Cross. In recuperating this history, the analysis rejects seeming truisms about the forgotten or repressed memory of Italian colonialism. Drawing upon critical theories of “gaps,” the article addresses the methodological challenges in writing such a history.

Sabellidae is the second most diverse polychaete family in the Adriatic Sea, after Syllidae. Herein we report the updated list of the Sabellidae and Fabriciidae families in the Adriatic Sea deriving both from literature data and presently conducted researches in the northern Adriatic. During these researches polychaetes were sampled from three offshore soft-bottom and three coastal rocky shore stations. Among the analysed material three Sabellidae species are new records for the Adriatic fauna, while four Sabellidae and one Fabriciidae species were recorded for the first time in the northern part. Two new species were found and described: Amphicorina rovignensis spec. nov. and Megalomma pseudogesae spec. nov. These findings increase the number of Sabellidae taxa recorded in the northern Adriatic from 29 to 38. Our results point out the lack of the recent taxonomic studies in the area, but might also indicate the widening of the species areal. Taking into consideration that studies on only six stations raised the number of known sabellid taxa from the area by 31%, our results support the need for the regular taxonomic updating of the polychaete fauna in the northern Adriatic.

A sample of 3393 garfish, Belone belone (Linnaeus, 1761) was captured using a seine net between January 2003 and December 2008, along the eastern Adriatic Sea. The range in total length was 20.8–75.4 cm and in weight was 12.21–639.25 g. Length–length equations for converting size measurements (standard length and fork length to total length (TL)) were linear. In the length–weight relationship, positive allometry was established (b = 3.4818). Age, determined from sagittal otoliths, ranged from 1+ to 8+ years. The estimated von Bertalanffy model growth parameters for garfish were L∞ = 90.3 cm, K = 0.158 year−1, t0 = −0.109. Otolith weight was endorsed as a possible age predictor, as it showed highly exponential correlation with total garfish length and age (Wo = 0.0012 TL2.189; Wo = 0.568t1.486). These findings were used to examine mortality rates and exploitation in order to improve conservation and management of this pelagic species.

This article explores the proposition that the archaeological record of small, remote islands with scarce resources reflects the intensity of long-distance interaction in prehistory, taking as an example the Adriatic offshore islands. The best represented periods, the early Neolithic and the end of the Copper Age, correspond to the times of large-scale stylistic unity, the former, of the Mediterranean Impressed Wares, and the latter, of Bell Beakers. During those periods, radical innovations were introduced over vast areas of Europe, first, a new subsistence economy, and second, a different kind of social organization. In both cases, long-distance interaction would have played a crucial role.

Palaeoenvironmental data and vegetation histories derived from local datasets are examined in the light of Early Neolithic agro-pastoral activities and resource exploitation in the southeastern Adriatic Sea. Palynological evidence is summarized from three locations within the study area and compared to contemporaneous archaeological evidence. Coastal marine archaeological assemblages in the study area indicate that Early Neolithic inhabitants expended significant energy on terrestrial and marine hunting and gathering, and long distance maritime travel, well after the regional introduction of agro-pastoralism.

The authors present a new, two-stage model of the spread of farming along the eastern Adriatic coast based on the first appearance of pottery. The initial stage was a very rapid dispersal, perhaps by ‘leapfrog colonisation’, associated with cave sites in southern Dalmatia. The second stage was a slower agropastoral expansion associated with cave and open-air sites along the northern coast. Migration was a significant factor in the process. The mountainous hinterland formed an agricultural frontier zone, where farming was adopted piecemeal by indigenous groups.

Small islands offer archaeologists interesting and manageable subjects for survey and excavation. The recent work on Adriatic islands reported here examines occupation during the 3rd millennium BC, showing how sailors exploited islands for trade, control and raw materials.