Spanish researcher Jesús Ortea don name newly discovered marine mollusk species afta Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha. The species wey dem call Aldisa vozinhai, wey mean Vozinha’s sea slug, na recognition of di goalkeeper im contribution to Cape Verde historic run for di 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Vozinha wey don reach 40 years old na one of di stars of di tournament as Cape Verde reach round of 32 for World Cup on dia debut. Im display for di country goalless draw against Spain power di goalkeeper to global stardom.
According to di New York Times, di species na small, four-millimetre-long sea slug with red appearance wey unknown to scientists until Mr Ortea publish im study. Mr Ortea na professor of animal biology and zoology at University of Oviedo. During di research, im locate di species for Caribbean near Havana, Cuba and di island of Guadeloupe.
Di report wey dem release to coincide with di World Cup include di match between Spain and Cape Verde. Di researcher emphasize say di decision to choose Vozinha na also tribute to di people of Cape Verde, afta di country award am medal of environmental merit for 2023 for im contribution to marine biodiversity.
Mr Ortea tok say: “Dedicating a species of red algae to the Cape Verde national football team’s goalkeeper for im performance against La Roja na simple tribute and gesture of gratitude to di people of Cape Verde, where small things continue to achieve great significance.” Im add say: “Di author was awarded di Medal of Environmental Merit by di Government of Cape Verde on June 29, 2023, in recognition of im contributions to di study of di archipelago’s marine biodiversity.”
