Newly Discovered Deep-Sea Crustacean Named in Honor of Metallica
Is it any surprise that so many metal fans pursue a career in science? We’re total nerds who love biology-themed songs with names like “Lavaging Expectorate of Lysergide Composition” and “Pre-Bisectal Corrosive Immersion” and absolutely live to create categorizations, sub-categorizations, sub-sub-categorizations, and sub-sub-sub categorizations. Surely, there is no type of music fan better suited to studying obscure lifeforms than the metalhead.
To that end, Metallica are the latest in a LONG-ass line of metal bands to have a newly-discovered species named in their honor, following in the footsteps of such artists as Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, Lemmy, Between the Buried and Me, Cannibal Corpse’s Alex Webster, Henry Rollins, and Floor Jansen from Nightwish.
In Metallica’s case, the beauty in question is Macrostylis metallicola, a half-inch-long crustacean that lives 13,500 feet (roughly two-and-a-half miles) below the surface of the ocean. Like all arthropods, Macrostylis metallicola has a hard outer shell to protect its tender insides — a description which, come to think of it, metaphorically applies to James Hetfield, too. But that’s not why Dr. Torben Riehl and Dr. Bart De Smet from Ghent University in Belgium chose to name the newly-discovered deep-sea crustacean after Metallica; rather, according to Phys.org, they chose the name because “the researchers want to raise awareness.” And it’s working! Few of us would know what the fuck Macrostylis metallicola was if not their selection of moniker. Good work, doctors!
Metallica had the following to say about the honor:
“We’ve played on all seven continents, made it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and now… we’re a crustacean! Senckenberg researcher Dr. Torben Riehl and Dr. Bart De Smet of Ghent University in Belgium have discovered a new crustacean species in the depths of the northern Pacifica Ocean and decided to name it after some rock band… Welcome to our world Macrostylis metallicola!
“First of all, stellar name Dr. Riehl. Second, what an honor! Not only did Dr. Riehn name his discovery after a band as he has been a fan since childhood, The Thing That Should Not Be has a few things in common with us. The worm-like creature dwells in complete darkness, has no eyes, and is colorless. Talk about Blackened! It also lives amongst metallic nodules containing cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, and rare-earth elements. So it basically lives in a rock stadium? Now that’s one metal crustacean!
“You just never know what you’ll find ‘lurking beneath the sea.’”
Congrats to Metallica — there is no accomplishment of Dave Mustaine’s that they will not severely undermine.
Side note: anyone else think of a Metallica-themed soft drink when they hear the word “Metallicola”? No? Just me? Cool cool cool.
Despite recently cancelling a pair of festival appearances due to James Hetfield’s mandatory “sobriety weekends,” Metallica have a whole mess o’ live dates scheduled for the coming months. You can get those below:
April 15 – Santiago, Chile – Estadio Nacional [tickets]
April 18 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Campo Argentino de Polo [tickets]
April 21 – Porto Alegre, Brazil – Arena do Grêmio [tickets]
April 23 – Curitiba, Brazil – Estádio Couto Pereira [tickets]
April 25 – São Paulo, Brazil – Estádio do Morumbi [tickets]
April 27 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil – Estádio do Mineirão [tickets]
May 1 & 3 – Epicenter Festival – Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC [tickets]
May 8 & 10 – Welcome to Rockville – Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL [tickets]
October 9 & 11 – Aftershock Festival – Discovery Park, Sacramento, CA [tickets]
[via Metal Insider]
