Marine recreational fishing has significantly increased in recent years, especially in the Northern Adriatic Sea, where it accounts for equivalent up to 45% of artisanal fishery catches. Despite its relevance, few studies have investigated the potential impact of recreational fishing, particularly on vulnerable elasmobranch species, some of which are commercially targeted but face significant conservation problems. In this study, through online questionnaires administered to recreational fishers, we collected information on recreational fishing activities and their interaction with the most common demersal elasmobranchs along the western coast of the Northern Adriatic Sea. The responses revealed an intense fishing effort throughout the coastal area, especially around port entrances. The target species resulted primarily in those with high commercial value, while elasmobranchs are mostly bycatch, particularly Mustelus spp. Although 83% of fishers claimed to release them alive, the lack of studies on post-release survival rates makes it difficult to assess the impact of this fishing activity on elasmobranch populations.

The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758), is a well-known predatory species that inhabits a wide geographic range, including the Adriatic Sea. A marked decline in the abundance of its Mediterranean population has been documented over recent decades, making research on this species in its natural environment increasingly difficult. This study documents two contemporary records of young-of-the-year individuals recorded in 2018 and 2025 off the coasts of Croatia and Montenegro, respectively. Both records were sourced from local fisheries and were subsequently reported to scientists through citizen science. The individual reported from Montenegro was photographed and released unharmed while still in the water. This study further highlights the importance of citizen science in documenting occurrences of elusive elasmobranchs such as the great white shark and in educating fishers through a bottom-up approach. Together with the recently recorded young-of-the-year specimen in this area, these observations suggest that the Eastern Adriatic Sea may represent a contemporary nursery area for the great white shark, although this hypothesis remains to be verified.

The Atlantic Blue Marlin Makaira nigricans is a large,migratory billfish generally absent from the Mediterranean. On 18th May 2024, video footage of an individual hooked during recreational trollingapproximately 5 nautical miles off Sant Carles de la Ràpita (Ebro Delta,Spain) was provided to the authors by a recreational angler througha citizen-science contribution. The fish was visually estimated at ~2.5 m TL and ~100 kg and was cautiously identified as M. cf. nigricansbased on photographs and video footage. Because the individual was released and not examined directly, several diagnostic characters couldnot be assessed in detail. Nevertheless, the identification was supportedby the presence of key diagnostic traits visible in the images, includinga robust, round-section rostrum, pectoral fins capable of being folded back against the body, and a first dorsal fin lower than body depth with a long base. This observation potentially represents the third scientifically documented Mediterranean record, the first from the western basin, and the first in several decades. Given location and oceanographic setting, awest-to-east entry via the Strait of Gibraltar is more plausible than Suezingress and accords with the species’ preference for offshore waters andthermal/productivity gradients. There is no evidence of local residency or reproduction, but such vagrant occurrences warrant attention amid climate- and circulation-driven shifts.

Recent taxonomic revisions within the family Molidae have clarified the validity and diagnostic characters of the bump-head sunfish Mola alexandrini (Ranzani, 1839), a species historically confused with Mola mola. Despite its circumglobal distribution, confirmed records of M. alexandrini in the Mediterranean Sea remain limited, particularly in the Adriatic Sea. Here, we report the occurrence of an adult female M. alexandrini stranded along the north-western Adriatic coast (Ravenna, Italy) in March 2026. Species identification was assessed through an integrative approach combining external morphology, morphometric measurements, and mitochondrial COI sequencing. The specimen exhibited diagnostic morphological traits consistent with M. alexandrini, including a rounded clavus lacking lobes and back-fold, a deep laterally compressed body, and characteristic coloration patterns. Phylogenetic analysis based on COI sequences clustered the specimen within the M. alexandrini clade, clearly separating it from M. mola. This finding provides further evidence of the occurrence of M. alexandrini in the Adriatic Sea and highlights the importance of combining molecular and morphological approaches to resolve taxonomic uncertainty within the genus Mola. The study also highlights that historical misidentification may have contributed to an underestimation of the occurrence of M. alexandrini in the Mediterranean basin.