Honours

Honorary citizenship of the town of Sciara, in Sicily, founded in 1671 by Filippo Notarbartolo (the grandfather of the greatgrandfather of my greatgrandfather), under ius populandi privilege received on 13 November 1671 from Emperor Carlos II of Spain, Madrid. My citizenship was received from the Mayor of Sciara on 12 December 1999 for activities in the field of science, thereby contributing to spreading the name of Sciara around the world.

Echthrogaleus disciarai, a crustacean parasite of manta rays, named in my honour in 1987 by friend and copepod expert Greg B. Deets (Benz G.W., Deets G.B. 1987. Echthrogaleus disciarai sp. nov. (Siphonostomatoidea: Pandaridae), a parasitic copepod of the devil ray Mobula lucasana Beebe and Tee Van,1938 from the Sea of Cortez. Canadian Journal of Zoology 65:685-690).
The holotype, allotype and paratypes are deposited in the collections of the United States National Museum (Nos. 231380 – 231383)

Prize “Tridente d’Oro” awarded by the International Academy of Underwater Sciences and Technologies on 11 September 1993, on the island of Ustica (Italy), for activities in the field of marine science.

International prize “Primula d’Oro” awarded by “Uomo e Natura”, trimestrale delle aree protette mediterranee, on 28 September 2002, in Naples, for the spearheading of the creation of the Pelagos Sanctuary.

Career prize “Una vita per il mare” (“A life for the sea”), 10th edition, awarded in 2006 by the City Aquarium of Milano and Verdeacqua.

Porpoise sculpture awarded as former President of the European Cetacean Society, Gdynia (Poland), 3 April 2006.

Whale sculpture awarded as founder and former President of the Tethys Research Institute, with the nomination as Honorary President of the organisation.

In March 2015 I was honoured by the European Cetacean Society with the Mandy McMath Conservation Award (photo credit: Anja Reckendorf).

Received from His Serene Highness Albert II, Prince of of Monaco, on 17 November 2009, for services rendered to the Principality in my quality of Chair of the Scientific Committee of the “Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area”.