Meet Peckoltia greedoi, a newly-named
species of suckermouth armored catfish. And if its name calls to mind a
character from a galaxy far, far away - well, that's the point.
The fish was named for Greedo, the bounty
hunter killed by Han Solo in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, The Huffington Post reports.
Jonathan Armbruster, biological sciences
professor and curator of fishes for the Auburn University Museum of Natural
History, said he was trying to name the fish when his colleague, arachnologist
Chris Hamilton, said it looked a little familiar.
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| Peckoltia greedoi, the suckermouth armored catfish |
"Chris looked at the specimen and said,
'That looks like that guy from Star Wars,'" Armbruster said in a
university news release.
"After a little prodding, I realized he was
talking about Greedo. We then knew what the name had to be. The Peckoltia
greedoi does bear a striking resemblance to Greedo."
Armbruster has named more than 40 species
of fish, including Peckoltia greedoi, which was found along the Gurupi River in
Brazil in 1998. But taxonomy is not as easy as looking at a fish and trying to
figure out who or what it might resemble.
In many cases, it can be a challenge just
figuring out if it really is a new species that needs a new name.
 |
| Greedo of Rodia, defunct bounty hunter |
"Taxonomy is kind of a difficult
science because if you look at the group that we're talking about here there
are over 800 species described, so you have to know what are the described ones
to be able to figure out what are the undescribed ones," Armbruster said
in a video report (above).
The fish are measured and examined to see
what makes it different from the ones that have been named before, he said.
What makes Peckoltia greedoi unique from
other catfish is carefully described in the newly published paper, Three
new species of saddled loricariid catfishes, and a review of Hemiancistrus,
Peckoltia, and allied genera (Siluriformes).
Just to make sure everyone knows who the
fish is named for, the paper notes:
"Named for Greedo of Rodia, a bounty
hunter killed by Han Solo in Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina in the movie “Star
Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox, 1977) with
whom this species shares a remarkable resemblance"
Read more and watch the video HERE.
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