A man found dead in Vineyard Sound Monday has been identified as Luciano Rebay, 86, of Tisbury, according to the Cape and Islands district attorney's office.

According to the Columbia University website, Mr. Rebay was the Giuseppe Ungaretti professor emeritus of Italian literature there. He was a seasonal Island resident of Makonikey.

According to the district attorney and state police, Mr. Rebay was found by a fisherman early Monday morning in Vineyard Sound near Makonikey Head in West Tisbury. The Coast Guard was notified at about 7:30 a.m., and station Woods Hole launched a 45-foot boat to recover him.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said Mr. Rebay was clothed in jeans, a white T-shirt, sneakers and a brown belt, and he did not have any identification, Mr. O’Keefe said.

State police and the district attorney said yesterday that the investigation was continuing into the cause of death, but it did not appear to be a homicide.

Coast Guard Lieut. Bryan Swintek, command center chief of the southeastern New England sector based in Woods Hole, told the Gazette Monday that it was hard to tell how long he had been in the water.