Pink Floyd have shrimp species named after them

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Newly discovered pistol shrimp named after Pink Floyd thanks to zoologists’ love of the prog legends

Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd

A newly discovered species of pistol shrimp has been named in honour of Pink Floyd.

The Synalpheus pinkfloydi was discovered and catalogued by Arthur Anker of the Universidade Federal de Goiás in Brazil, Kristin Hultgren of Seattle University and Sammy De Grave of Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The crustacean has a distinctive pink claw – but despite its colour, it has been named after the prog legends because Anker and De Grave are fans of the band.

Anker says in a statement: “I often play Pink Floyd as background music while I’m working, but now the band and my work have been happily combined in the scientific literature.”

De Grave adds: “I have been listening to Floyd since The Wall was released in 1979, when I was 14 years old. I’ve seen them play live several times since, including the Hyde Park reunion gig for Live8 in 2005.

“The description of this new species of pistol shrimp was the perfect opportunity to finally give a nod to my favourite band.”

Pistol shrimp, or alpheid shrimp, have asymmetrical claws, with the larger of the two able to emit a powerful sonic wave which is capable of stunning large fish and killing smaller species.

The Synalpheus pinkfloydi

The Synalpheus pinkfloydi (Image credit: Arthur Anker, Sammy De Grave, Kristin Hultgren)

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Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.