MOSS LANDING >> Deep sea snails living in the dark, hot and acidic environment around hydrothermal vents are pretty punk rock, scientists have concluded.
Like rock stars with mohawks brooding in leather jackets studded with spikes, the snail genus Alviniconcha shares a spiked shell.
“Because they look like punk rockers in the 70s and 80s and they have purple blood and live in such an extreme environment, we decided to name one new species after a punk rock icon,” said Shannon Johnson, a researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
The name A. strummeri honors Joe Strummer, the lead singer and a guitarist of the British punk rock band The Clash.
The golf ball-sized snails rock out near hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, as deep as 11,500 feet. They look identical but are in fact separate species, Johnson confirmed after studying their DNA.
The lead author, Johnson published the findings this month in the journal Systematics and Biodiversity. The paper introduces five new species found in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.
It’s not uncommon to name species after celebrities and cultural icons. To name a few, there’s a Bob Marley crustacean parasite, a Beyoncé bee-like fly and Lady Gaga genus of plant. One scientist named a species of jellyfish after Frank Zappa in hopes of meeting the musician. And it worked.
But scientists mostly use celebrity names in a “shameless bid” to draw attention to their work, taxonomy and biodiversity said Quentin Wheeler, director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at SUNY.
“In our culture, it is one sure way to get species noticed,” Wheeler said. “Some scientists frown on the practice, but their science is in trouble, and if a little humor helps, why not?”
As long as scientists follow the international codes of botanical and zoological nomenclature, they name species as they wish.
“This gets people excited about science,” Johnson said. “Otherwise, people might not see these snails.”
