This study discusses the processes of increasing social malaise and an “oppositional mood” in the Cape Verdean island of Santo Antão, where growing frustration between 1975 and 1990 led to the building of massive political opposition against the single-party regime in the archipelago. Early scrutiny of the shortcomings of independent administration, anger about the installation of a new police force, resettlement schemes, a failed agrarian reform, regime violence to achieve that reform, and a generalised mood of decline in the second half of the 1980s, constitute different elements explaining the unrest in that island. Based on newly available, local archives as an innovative source, the interpretation of a remote Cape Verdean opposition island also addresses the potential of studying opposition against “winning parties” and regimes after independence in wider regional frameworks, referring to discontent and “oppositional mood” elsewhere in postcolonial (Lusophone) Africa.

There are no scientific data available on the occurrence of the Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) cluster in definitive hosts (domestic dogs), intermediate hosts (domestic livestock) nor humans in Cape Verde. In this pilot study, environmental dog fecal samples (n = 369) were collected around food markets, official slaughterhouses, as well as home and small business slaughter spots in 8 of the 9 inhabited islands from the Cape Verde archipelago, between June 2021 and March 2022. Additionally, during the same period, 40 cysts and tissue lesions were opportunistically collected from 5 islands, from locally slaughtered cattle (n = 7), goats (n = 2), sheep (n = 1) and pigs (n = 26). Genetic characterization by a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay targeting the 12S rRNA gene confirmed the presence of E. granulosus s.l. in fecal and tissue material. In total, 17 cyst samples from Santiago (n = 9), Sal (n = 7) and São Vicente (n = 1) and 8 G6/G7-positive dog fecal samples from Santiago (n = 4) and Sal (n = 4) were identified as E. granulosus s.l. G7 by sequence analysis (nad2, nad5 and nad1 genes). This study discloses the transmission of E. granulosus s.l. G7, in pig, cattle and dog in Cape Verde.

In the past decade Cape Verde has seen an unexpected outburst of gang-related urban violence. The state has reacted mainly by means of a repressive securitization policy, which has not been able to offer more than temporary solutions. In public discourses, “broken” families, youth drug consumption, and a supposed lack of education and sufficiently severe punishment are often referred to as the main causes for the rise in crime. The article discusses such discourses, contrasting them with the experiences and narratives of inmates from the country’s two central prisons. It suggests that extrajudicial punishment of suspects and offenders by police officers, as reported by many juvenile convicts, is part of the dynamics of violence manifest in different spheres of Cape Verdean society and may be a possible factor influencing the decision of young citizens to “opt” for, or stick to, careers of marginality and delinquency.

Conservation regulations aimed at restricting resource use are commonly used to manage and protect natural resources but their implementation depends on the compliance of resource users. The design of effective regulations should be informed by an understanding of the factors that affect compliance, considering contextual socio-economic information. Changes have been implemented in the national legislation protecting marine turtles in the Cape Verde archipelago, where historical and recent records indicate heavy human predation pressure on nesting and foraging marine turtles. We present an assessment of levels of illegal harvesting and consumption of marine turtle products on two of the islands, Boa Vista and Santiago, and an analysis of their potential drivers. Key stakeholders were interviewed to investigate the perceived impact of the main interventions employed in Cape Verde to reduce illegal harvesting, trade and consumption of marine turtles. Despite an apparent decrease in harvesting and consumption, our results suggest there has been a shift from subsistence harvesting to trade in Boa Vista. The existence of laws to protect marine turtles was perceived as a deterrent to harvesting, and awareness campaigns and a lack of availability were perceived as reasons for the decrease in consumption in Boa Vista and Santiago, respectively. Aiming to inform ongoing discussions, we recommend a multi-targeted approach focusing on both suppliers and consumers to magnify conservation effectiveness. Regular impact evaluation focusing on harvest and consumption is needed to improve the design of regulations and inform policy decision making.

A new deep-sea fish is reported for the tropical eastern Atlantic. The rare chiasmodontid Kali macrodon was caught for the first time in Cape Verdean waters during an oceanographic survey in September 2009. This record provides the fifth occurrence for the species in the north-eastern Atlantic and represents the third specimen ever caught in tropical waters.

The Macaronesian Islands in the mid-Atlantic pose a number of questions relating to their colonization by littoral tanaidaceans, as these taxa have no obligate dispersive phase. Recent surveys of the four main archipelagos discovered twelve species of tanaidacean, four of which are new to science, in seven genera (one new to science). In addition, some taxa described by Vanhöffen at the beginning of the last century were rediscovered. All the taxa are described, and their zoogeography, likely origin, and possible means of colonization are discussed.

Scavenging raptors have been postulated to be declining at a rate far higher than predatory raptors. To test this hypothesis we reviewed the historical and present status of the seven raptor species—three scavengers (two kites and a vulture), one partial scavenger (a buzzard) and three species (osprey and two falcons) that take live prey—that breed on the Cape Verde islands. Scavenging raptors have experienced steeper declines and more local extinctions than non-scavengers in Cape Verde, with the partial scavenger midway between the two groups. Causes of scavenger decline include incidental poisoning, direct persecution and declines in the availability of carcasses and other detritus. These findings, which highlight the conservation importance of the island of Santo Antão, indicate the priority that needs to be accorded to scavengers, particularly in Europe where many insular populations are reaching unsustainable levels.

Ultrastructural examination of the brachiopod Thecidellina from three different locations in the Caribbean and the Atlantic revealed that at least three cryptic species are present. One is the type species of the genus, Thecidellina barretti, which may only occur in Jamaica. The other two, previously lumped into T. barretti, are new to science, viz T. bahamiensis Lüter & Logan sp. nov. from the Bahamas and T. williamsi Lüter & Logan sp. nov. from Cape Verde. All three species clearly differ not only in their provenance, but also in specific shell characters, such as spiculation of the ventral valve, presence of a ventral median ridge, shape of two holes in the intrabrachial ridge of the dorsal valve and the structure of the interbrachial lobes. The identification of three instead of a single species and their supposed allopatric speciation is discussed with regard to the thecideide life cycle and independent models of larval dispersal in the Caribbean, based on oceanographic data.