A shrimp with a bright pink claw was recently discovered in the Pacific Ocean and has been named after one of rock’s big fish — the legendary Pink Floyd.
The Pink Floyd pistol shrimp was discovered by a team of scientists from Seattle University, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Brazil’s Universidade Federal de Goiás.
Its rock ‘n’ roll name was inspired by the research team’s love of Pink Floyd’s music.
Synalpheus pinkfloydi belongs to the family of pistol or snapping shrimps.
When pistol shrimps close their enlarged claws “at rapid speed,” the motion creates an implosion “which results in one of the loudest sounds in the ocean,” the scientists said.
The sound can stun — or even kill — a small fish.
“I have been listening to Floyd since ‘The Wall’ was released in 1979, when I was 14 years old,” Sammy De Grave, head researcher at the Oxford University museum said.
“The description of this new species of pistol shrimp was the perfect opportunity to finally give a nod to my favorite band.”
Arthur Anker, the report’s lead author, said he often plays Pink Floyd in the background while he’s working. “Now the band and my work have been happily combined in the scientific literature.”
Scientists have been inspired by the band in the past. In 2015, a species of damselfly was named after Floyd’s fourth album “Ummagumma.”
The Pink Floyd pistol shrimp was found in Las Perlas Islands, on Panama’s Pacific coast. In their study, the authors said the crustacean is “likely more widespread in the tropical eastern Pacific,” but added that because of the inhospitable habitat, it’s unlikely they’d be found “on the Dark Side of the Moon.”
