Synalpheus pinkfloydi

Species of snapping shrimp, named after Pink Floyd

Synalpheus pinkfloydi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Caridea
Family: Alpheidae
Genus: Synalpheus
Species:
S. pinkfloydi
Binomial name
Synalpheus pinkfloydi
Anker, Hultgren, De Grave, 2017

Synalpheus pinkfloydi, the Pink Floyd pistol shrimp, is a species of snapping shrimp in the genus Synalpheus. Described in 2017, it was named after the rock band Pink Floyd, in part because it has a distinctive "bright pink-red claw".[1][2] The sound it makes by snapping the claw shut reaches 210 decibels, and can kill nearby small fish.[3]

The type material, collected near the Las Perlas Archipelago, in Panama Bay, as part of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's "Comparative and experimental studies of crustacean morphology and development" project, is now in the collections of the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo, and of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.[1]

S. pinkfloydi, found on the eastern Pacific, is related and visually similar to the western Atlantic S. antillensis with a 10.2% sequence divergence in the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene.[1]

In a nod to the species' namesake, the paper describing it said it is "unlikely to occur on the Dark Side of the Moon due to lack of suitable habitat".[1]

See also

  • List of organisms named after famous people (born 1900–1949)
  • Pink Floyd

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Synalpheus pinkfloydi.
  1. ^ a b c d Anker, Arthur; Hultgren, Kristin M.; De Grave, Sammy (2017). "Synalpheus pinkfloydi sp. nov., a new pistol shrimp from the tropical eastern Pacific (Decapoda: Alpheidae)". Zootaxa. 4254 (1): 111–119. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4254.1.7. PMID 28609985.
  2. ^ Billings, Scott (12 April 2017). "Which one's Pink?". More Than A Dodo. Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  3. ^ Hilton, Robin (12 April 2017). "A Shrimp Named After Pink Floyd Can Kill With Sound". All Songs Considered. NPR. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
Taxon identifiers
Synalpheus pinkfloydi


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