A shrimp that uses a very loud sound to stun its prey has been named after legendary rock band Pink Floyd.
The Synalpheus pinkfloydi, a kind of pistol shrimp, has an oversized pink claw, which, when snapped, creates a blast that’s louder than a gunshot.
Sammy de Grave of Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History, who named the shrimp, combined the loudness, the pink color and his love for Pink Floyd to come up with the name.
"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 Live 8 in 2005,” he told The Telegraph newspaper, referencing the anti-poverty benefit concerts. "The description of this new species of pistol shrimp was the perfect opportunity to finally give a nod to my favorite band."
When Synalpheus pinkfloydi snaps its claw, it creates a “high-pressure cavitation bubble which collapses to produce one of the loudest sounds in the ocean,” The Telegraph reported. The sound can be as loud as 210 decibels, which is enough to stun or kill small fish.
The bubble is also hot, reaching temperatures as high as 4,400 degrees Celsius.
This is not the first time de Grave has named a crustacean after his love of rock and roll, the BBC reports. The Elephantis jaggerai is a tribute to Mick Jagger, front man of the Rolling Stones.
De Grave’s description of the shrimp, which was discovered off the Pacific coast of Panama, was published in the journal Zootaxa.
