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In the North Atlantic, the waters surrounding the Cape Verde Islands are a "potential hot spot" for cookiecutter shark Isistius spp. interactions with cetaceans. These occurrences were recently identified by the improved efforts of researchers to document cetacean strandings in the Cape Verde archipelago, as well as by the photo identification efforts of live whales and dolphins. The documentation of individual and mass stranding events confirmed that cookiecutter shark interactions with cetaceans in Cape Verde seas are remarkably common.
On 6 October 2012, the remains of a frigatebird were recovered at João Barrosa beach (16°01.387’N, 022°43.610’W), southeastern Boavista, Cape Verde Islands. The carcass had been found in mid September 2012, during a beach survey to monitor loggerhead turtle nesting activity in the area and was then buried in the sand. The field assistant of the Cabo Verde Natura 2000 turtle project who found the bird indicated the location of the corpse to the first author. His description of the bird allowed it to be identified as an adult female magnificent frigatebird Fregata magnificens Mathews, 1914. The remains consisted of numerous black and white feathers as well as several bones, including the skull, thorax and wing bones, which are preserved at the Cabo Verde Natura 2000 headquarters at Sal Rei, Boavista. Some feathers, together with remains of an egg and tissue of a mummified male found at Ilhéu de Baluarte in 2005 (see below), were deposited at the Centro de Análise Molecular, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CMA/CIBIO), Vairão, Portugal.
The diet of feral cats Felis catus on Santa Luzia, Cape Verde Islands, was studied. A total of 147 prey items were identified during the analysis of 26 scat groups collected during the summer of 2010. House mouse Mus musculus was the most important prey, both in percentage of biomass and number of preys consumed (89.7% and n= 117, respectively). Reptiles were the second most important prey, represented by one skink species (Chioninia stangeri) and an unidentified gecko species. The remainder of the identified prey consisted of one bird species (Passer iagoensis) and one undetermined Tettigoniidae species (Insecta). No endangered species were identified in scats of this introduced predator, but future surveys must be carried out to further avoid threats to the island's biodiversity.
On 10 February 2012, at 0845 UTC, a mass stranding involving seven (six adults and a juvenile) pygmy killer whales Feresa attenuata Gray, 1874 occurred at Praia de Boa Esperança (16º12’26”N, 22º52’00”W), along the northern coast of Boavista island, Cape Verde Islands. The event was witnessed by a group of kite-surfers, who managed to move three animals (two adults and a juvenile) back to the sea. No re-strandings were noted. At 1330 UTC, staff of the Protected Areas Department visited the site and recorded four specimens (two alive and two dead). At 1700 UTC, only two carcasses were found on the beach, the others apparently having been washed out to sea.
Recent data on status and distribution of resident and migrant birds in the Cape Verde Islands are presented, including records of nine taxa new to the archipelago, viz. Ixobrychus sturmii, Botaurus stellaris, Butorides striatus, Circus cyaneus, Porzana pusilla, Fulica atra, Chlidonias niger, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus and Hippolais polyglotta. Also presented are data on a number of breeding taxa, including the first record of the endemic Raso lark Alauda razae outside the islet of Raso. The alarming situation of the magnificent frigatebird Fregata magnificens, of which probably only two individuals remain in Cape Verde, constituting the entire population in the East Atlantic, is highlighted. During the past decade, breeding populations of common moorhen Gallinula chloropus appear to have become well-established on the islands of Santiago and Boavista. Following its expansion through Northwest Africa and the Canary Islands, Eurasian collared dove Streptopelia decaocto has now also colonized the Cape Verde Islands.
A bibliography (including an author index) of the literature on the land and freshwater molluscs of the Cape Verde Islands is presented, encompassing 81 entries, of which 61 are directly related to land and freshwater molluscs, while another 20 deal with marine Pulmonata and/or brackish and saltwater inhabiting Hydrobiidae. A historical synopsis of the exploration of the land and freshwater mollusc fauna of the Cape Verde archipelago is presented. An annotated check-list of the land-bound gastropods of the Cape Verde Islands is also included, differentiating between freshwater, land and marine species and completed by a list of taxa that have been erroneously mentioned for the archipelago due to misidentification or confusion about the location of origin.
Reproduction of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Santa Cruz, Santiago island, Cape Verde Islands
(2012)
Mosquitoes are dipterous insects with an important role in the transmission of diseases like malaria and dengue. During a dengue fever outbreak in the Cape Verde Islands in 2009, several studies were undertaken to support vector control. The present study was carried out in the district of Santa Cruz, Santiago island, to evaluate previous measures taken to control mosquito populations. Results show that mosquitoes use domestic water containers to breed. Barrels, drums and pots were all used. Of these, drums were most frequently found being infested with mosquito larvae or pupae. Morphological identification showed that Anopheles arabiensis and Aedes aegypti were present in the study area. Ae. aegypti was the commonest of the two and the only one found throughout the study area. Results show that socio-economic factors influence container positivity.