The distribution of the Rough triggerfish, Canthidermis maculata, has been established in the East Atlantic for the west coast of subtropical central Africa, from Cape Verde Islands to Gabon, but with some records also toward Angola. The capture of a single specimen (TL: 289.6 mm) by tuna vessels in the Canary Islands, expand the distribution range of this species northward.

Solanum L. (Solanaceae) is one of the largest genera of angiosperms and presents difficulties in identification due to lack of regional keys to all groups. Here we provide keys to all 135 species of Solanum native and naturalised in Africa (as defined by World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions): continental Africa, Madagascar (incl. the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, La Réunion, the Comoros and the Seychelles), Macaronesia and the Cape Verde Islands. Some of these have previously been published in the context of monographic works, but here we include all taxa. The paper is designed to be used in conjunction with the web resource Solanaceae Source (www.solanaceaesource.org) and hyperlinks provide access to online descriptions, synonymy and images (where available) of each species. All taxa treated and specimens seen are included in searchable Suppl. material 1, 2.

Abstract The eastern North Atlantic (ENA) has many highly productive areas where several species of cetaceans have been recorded, with the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) being one of the most frequently sighted species. However, its spatial and temporal distribution in high seas is poorly known. The study presents the results from 5 years of cetacean monitoring in the ENA (2012–2016) aboard cargo ships that follow the routes from Continental Portugal to the Macaronesian archipelagos and north-west Africa. Common dolphin was the most frequently sighted cetacean with 192 occurrences registered on effort and an overall encounter rate of 0.36 sightings/100 nmi. The species was distributed in coastal and offshore waters, but absent from the Canaries and Cape Verde islands. Statistical ‘habitat’ models were developed to describe and explain the occurrence of sightings of the species: variables affecting detection of dolphins had a small impact and there were clear spatiotemporal distribution patterns, influenced to some degree by environmental variables. Predicted probability of occurrence was highest in coastal waters of continental Portugal and around the Azores. The models, combined with maps of distribution, were useful to identify important areas for the species, which could be the focus of future conservation efforts. Common dolphin presence was related to depth, distance to coast and seamounts, seabed slope, chlorophyll concentration, sea-surface temperature and sea level anomalies; the possible ecological significance of these relationships is explored.

Mathematical analysis of dengue fever outbreak by novel fractional operators with field data

The application results of the receiver function technique are briefly outlined. The topography of the main seismic boundaries in the mantle transition zone is evaluated with resolution of about 3 km in depth and about 200 km laterally. The maximal amplitudes of depth variations of the main boundaries reach tens of kilometers. The mantle transition zone thinning in the hot spots and the respective increase in temperature by ~100 °C is established. In several regions, two low-velocity layers are revealed in the mantle transition zone, one directly above the 410-km seismic discontinuity and another at a depth of 450 to 500 km. The origin of the first layer is associated with dehydration in the mantle plumes during olivine – walesite phase transformation. The increase in the S-wave velocity at the base of the second layer can explain the observations of the so-called 520-km boundary. The traditional approach to studying the structure of the crust and upper mantle is from surface waves. Receiver functions can provide higher resolution at the same depths when a combination of P- and S-wave receiver functions is used. This type of results was obtained for Fennoscandia, Kaapvaal craton, Indian shield, Central Tien Shan, Baikal rift zone, the Azores, Cape Verde Islands, and the western Mediterranean. S-receiver functions were used in the studies of the lunar crust. The joint P- and S-receiver function inversion provides robust estimates of the parameters of seismic boundaries including weak discontinuities such as the lithosphere – asthenosphere interface of cratons. The parameters determined from receiver functions include the P- to S-wave velocity ratio. In a few regions, a very high (> 2.0) velocity ratio is observed in the lower crust, probably indicating the presence of a fluid with high pore pressure. Receiver functions allow estimating the parameters of azimuthal anisotropy as a function of depth. The changes of the parameters with depth make it possible to distinguish the active anisotropy associated with recent deformations from the frozen anisotropy – the effect of the past tectonic processes.

Although the hydrocoral Millepora alcicornis is a prominent and ecologically relevant amphi-Atlantic reef builder, little attention has been given to its endosymbionts which are also involved in the survival and adaptation success of the species in different environments. In this study, we resolve the genetic relationships between M. alcicornis and its symbionts (Symbiodiniaceae) within both sides and across the Atlantic. The COI and 16S-rDNA regions were selected for the host tissues, and the 23S-rDNA and ITS regions were chosen for the symbionts. Phylogenetic networks consistently showed that host populations from the eastern Atlantic archipelagos (Canary and Cape Verde Islands) were more related to western Atlantic populations than they were between them. However, results for Symbiodiniaceae species varied according to the molecular marker used. Samples from Mexico were grouped as Symbiodinium sp. (formerly Symbiodinium clade A) by both markers. Specimens from Puerto Rico were grouped as either Symbiodinium sp. or Breviolum sp. (formerly Symbiodinium clade B), according to the molecular marker used. Most samples from the eastern Atlantic were identified as Breviolum sp. by both markers, except for one sample from the Canary Islands and two samples from the Cape Verde Islands, which were identified as Cladocopium sp. (formerly Symbiodinium clade C) using ITS-rDNA. These results suggest that these two genera of Symbiodiniaceae may cohabit the same M. alcicornis colony. Because hydrocorals from the Canary Islands were phylogenetically related to the western Atlantic, but symbionts were more related to those of the Cape Verde Islands, the origin of the coral and its symbionts is probably different. This may be explained either by “horizontal” transmission, i.e. acquisition from the environment, or by a change in the dominant symbiont composition within the host. The flexibility of this hydrocoral to select symbionts, depending on environmental conditions, can provide new insight to understand how this coral may face ongoing climate change.

An inverse problem to identify parameters for the single-term (and multi-term) fractional-order system of an outbreak of dengue fever is considered. Firstly, we propose a numerical method for the fractional-order dengue fever system based on the Gorenflo-Mainardi-Moretti-Paradisi (GMMP) scheme and the Newton method. Secondly, two methods, the modified grid approximation method (MGAM) and the modified hybrid Nelder-Mead simplex search and particle swarm optimization (MH-NMSS-PSO) algorithm are expanded to estimate the fractional orders and coefficients for fractional differential equations. Then, we use GMMP and MH-NMSS-PSO to estimate the parameters of the fractional-order dengue fever system. With the new fractional orders and parameters, our fractional-order dengue fever system is capable of providing numerical results that agree very well with the real data. Furthermore, for searching a better dengue fever system, a multi-term fractional-order epidemic system of dengue fever is proposed. We also use the MGAM and MH-NMSS-PSO to estimate the fractional orders and coefficients of the multi-term fractional-order system. To verify the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed methods in dealing with the fractional inverse problem, a numerical example with real data is investigated. Using the statistics from the 2009 outbreak of the disease in the Cape Verde islands, we are able to predict the fractional orders and parameters of the fractional dengue fever system. With the new fractional orders and parameters, our multi-term fractional-order dengue fever system is capable of providing numerical results that agree better with the real data than other integer-order models.

The results of application of the receiver function technique are briefly reviewed. In the mantle transition zone, the topography of the main seismic boundaries is evaluated with a resolution of about 3 km in depth and a lateral resolution of about 200 km. The variations of the depth of the main boundaries have the maximal amplitude reaching tens of kilometers. Thinning of the mantle transition zone in the hot spots and the respective increase in temperature by ~100°C is established. In several regions, two low-velocity layers are revealed in the mantle transition zone: one directly above the 410-km seismic discontinuity and another at a depth of 450 to 500 km. The origin of the first layer is associated with dehydration in the mantle plumes in the process of the olivine–wadsleyite phase transformation. The increase in the velocity of S-waves in the base of the second layer may explain the observations of the so-called 520-km boundary. The traditional approach to the studies of the structure of the crust and upper mantle is based on using the surface waves. Receiver functions can provide higher resolution at the same depths when a combination of P- and S-wave receiver functions is used. This type of results was obtained for Fennoscandia, Kaapvaal craton, Indian shield, Central Tien Shan, Baikal rift zone, the Azores, Cape Verde Islands, and the western Mediterranean. S-receiver functions were used in the study of the lunar crust. The joint inversion of P- and S-receiver functions provides robust estimates of the parameters of the seismic boundaries, including weak discontinuities such as the lithosphere–asthenosphere interface of cratons. The parameters determined from receiver functions include the P-wave to S-wave velocity ratio. In a few regions, a very high (>2.0) velocity ratio is observed in the lower crust that may indicate the presence of a fluid with a high pore pressure. Receiver functions allow estimating the parameters of the azimuthal anisotropy as a function of depth. The change of the parameters with depth makes it possible to distinguish the active anisotropy associated with recent deformations from the frozen anisotropy—the effect of the past tectonic processes.

Hurricane Irma was a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Irma developed from a tropical wave around the Cape Verde Islands. The National Hurricane Center started monitoring it on August 26, and it was classified as a tropical storm named Irma on August 30. Moving across the Atlantic Ocean, Irma increased in strength. On September 5, Irma was classified as a category 5 hurricane with wind speeds up to 175 mph (280 km/h). Irma made landfall in the U.S. on Cudjoe Key (near Big Pine and Summerland Keys) in the morning of September 10, still being a category 4 hurricane, and made a second landfall on Marco Island, south of Naples, on the same day as a category 3 hurricane. This paper describes the lessons learned by the authors when deploying wave gages and cameras to observe the wave run-up.

Glaresishespericulasp. n. from the Cape Verde Islands (Boa Vista Island) is described and its diagnostic characters are illustrated. The new species is compared with similar and probably closely related species Glaresiswalzlae Scholtz, 1983. The differential diagnosis is mainly based on the different shape of meso- and metatibiae.

Oceanic islands are mostly of volcanic origin. Most of them harbour a diverse fauna and flora, which had not been there before. All plants and animals must have reached the islands by sea or wind or through human activities. Thus, all these island taxa are witnesses of migration events in the past and are models for biogeography. In this review, fauna (especially birds) and flora of the Macaronesian islands west of Europe and North Africa in the Atlantic are discussed. The Macaronesian islands comprise 4 archipelagos with 31 main islands, including the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands. These islands are of volcanic origin and between 120 and < 1 million years old. Flora and fauna mostly consist of species, that originally originated from Europe or Africa and arrived within the last 4 million years. More than 23% of the terrestrial taxa are endemic to the area. Genetic analyses have confirmed most of the morphologically defined endemic species and subspecies. In some species groups, a strong speciation signal becomes visible in that distinct genetic lineages occur on individual islands or archipelagos. This is especially apparent in Phylloscopus canariensis, Regulus regulus, Cyanistes [caeruleus] teneriffae, Erithacus rubecula, and Fringilla coelebs. The diversity of the Macaronesian islands offers an excellent opportunity to study adaptive radiation and speciation in organisms of differing complexity and mobility.

SummaryThe Raso Lark Alauda razae is a single island endemic confined to the island of Raso in the Cape Verde islands. It has been studied via short (11–20 day), similarly-timed visits every year from 2001 to 2017. These November/December visits have occurred towards the end of the main rainy period (August–October) in the Cape Verdes. Average clutch size ranged from zero (no nests found) to 3.57 in different years and was strongly correlated with rainfall in the three months preceding the year’s visit, but not with population size, which varied 25-fold during the study period. Since the nomadic pursuit of rain is not an option for the Raso Lark, the species adjusts clutch size according to conditions prevailing on Raso.

Abstract Glider measurements acquired along four transects between Cap‐Vert Peninsula and the Cape Verde archipelago in the eastern tropical North Atlantic during March–April 2014 were used to investigate fine‐scale stirring in an anticyclonic eddy. The anticyclone was formed near 12°N off the continental shelf and propagated northwest toward the Cape Verde islands. At depth, between 100 and –400 m, the isolated anticyclone core contained relatively oxygenated, low‐salinity South Atlantic Central Water, while the surrounding water masses were saltier and poorly oxygenated. The dynamical and thermohaline subsurface environment favored the generation of fine‐scale horizontal and vertical temperature and salinity structures in and around the core of the anticyclone. These features exhibited horizontal scales of O(10–30 km) relatively small with respect to the eddy radius of O(150 km). The vertical scales of O(5–100 m) were associated to density‐compensated gradient. Spectra of salinity and oxygen along isopycnals revealed a slope of around k−2 in the 10‐ to 100‐km horizontal scale range. Further analyses suggest that the fine‐scale structures are likely related to tracer stirring processes. Such mesoscale anticyclonic eddies and the embedded fine‐scale tracers in and around them could play a major role in the transport of South Atlantic Central Water masses and ventilation of the North Atlantic Oxygen Minimum Zone.

Humpback whale (<i>Megaptera novaeangliae</i>) song detected at the Cape Verde Islands during boreal and austral spring

A new species of Physiculus, P. caboverdensis n. sp., is described from the outer shelf and upper slope of the Cape Verde Islands. This species differs from all other congeners from the Atlantic Ocean by its peculiar dentition, composed of large fang-like teeth in both jaws, interspaced with smaller canine-like teeth, arranged in two series on upper jaw and one on lower. This is the tenth species of the genus to occur in the Atlantic Ocean and the third to be recorded from the Cape Verde Islands.

Eastern boundary upwelling provides the conditions for high marine productivity in the Canary Current System off NW-Africa. Despite its considerable importance to fisheries, knowledge on this marine ecosystem is only limited. Here, parasites were used as indicators to gain insight into the host ecology and food web of two pelagic fish species, the commercially important species Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758, and Nealotus tripes Johnson, 1865. Fish specimens of T. lepturus (n = 104) and N. tripes (n = 91), sampled from the Canary Current System off the Senegalese coast and Cape Verde Islands, were examined, collecting data on their biometrics, diet and parasitisation. In this study, the first parasitological data on N. tripes are presented. T. lepturus mainly preyed on small pelagic Crustacea and the diet of N. tripes was dominated by small mesopelagic Teleostei. Both host species were infested by mostly generalist parasites. The parasite fauna of T. lepturus consisted of at least nine different species belonging to six taxonomic groups, with a less diverse fauna of ectoparasites and cestodes in comparison to studies in other coastal ecosystems (Brazil Current and Kuriosho Current). The zoonotic nematode Anisakis pegreffii occurred in 23% of the samples and could pose a risk regarding food safety. The parasite fauna of N. tripes was composed of at least thirteen species from seven different taxonomic groups. Its most common parasites were digenean ovigerous metacercariae, larval cestodes and a monogenean species (Diclidophoridae). The observed patterns of parasitisation in both host species indicate their trophic relationships and are typical for mesopredators from the subtropical epi- and mesopelagic. The parasite fauna, containing few dominant species with a high abundance, represents the typical species composition of an eastern boundary upwelling ecosystem.

High cadmium and mercury concentrations in the tissues of the orange-back flying squid, Sthenoteuthis pteropus, from the tropical Eastern Atlantic

Great contribution to acarology has been provided by the South African taxonomist Edward A. Ueckermann, for the knowledge of mites of his country and of several other countries. His major contribution for more than 40 years concerns predaceous and phytophagous mites of many different families. He has conducted collaborative works with researchers from different countries, including Cape Verde, Marion and Reunion Islands, Israel, Kenya, Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Brazil, Iran and USA. In addition, he has trained researchers and students of different countries in his specialty. More than 240 new species and 23 new genera were described by him, in more than 212 high quality scientific papers. His contribution has been recently recognized by the South Africa National Research Foundation, entitling him to receive incentive funding. Despite retiring in January 2016, he continues to participate in research activities in full professional capacity, collaborating with researchers from South Africa and elsewhere.

Didogobius janetarum sp. nov. is described from five specimens collected from small caves and rock crevices between 12 and 20 m depth off two locations of Santiago Island, Cape Verde Islands. The species differs from all currently described congeners by the combination of the following characters: (1) 27 vertebrae, (2) second dorsal fin I + 10, (3) posterior quarter of predorsal region in front of first dorsal fin origin scaled, with several rows of cycloid scales, (4) body squamation cycloid anteriorly and ctenoid posteriorly, (5) scales in the lateral series 30-32, (6) anterior oculoscapular canal present, (7) preopercular head canal absent, (8) suborbital row 7 each a single papilla, (9) suborbital rows 2 and 4 close to orbit, and by (10) branchiostegal membranes uniformely black below preopercle, forming a V-shaped mark. Definitions for all used meristic counts are presented to serve as a reference for gobioid meristic studies. The genus is rediagnosed to accommodate recently described Didogobius species.

Occurrence of aflatoxins B1 and M1 in milk powder and UHT consumed in the city of Assomada (Cape Verde Islands) and southern Brazil