Shrimp Named After Pink Floyd

[Marsbar]

A newly discovered pink shrimp that, by snapping its claw, can make an enormously loud sound registering up to 210 decibels, has just been named by a group of scientists. They're calling the new species Synalpheus Pink Floyd, after the British prog-rock band Pink Floyd. According to Zootaxa journal, the newly named and very noisy pink shrimp can be found in the tropical eastern Pacific.

Just for reference, the sound this shrimp makes is formidable—210 decibels is more than a shotgun firing (130 decibels) and more than your average rock concert (110 to 140 decibels). According to a press release issued by Oxford University, the shrimp is able to generate this enormous sound by "closing its enlarged claw at rapid speed," thereby creating "a high-pressure cavitation bubble, the implosion of which results in one of the loudest sounds in the ocean." The sound is said to be strong enough to stun or kill a small fish.

The shrimp was named by Sammy De Grave, the Head of Research at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

A lifelong Pink Floyd fan, De Grave said, "I have been listening to Floyd since The Wall was released in 1979, when I was 14 years old." He claimed the discovery of this pink shrimp was the "perfect opportunity" to honor his favorite band; De Grave said he had been waiting to name a newly discovered species of pink shrimp after Pink Floyd for some time now.

*DM - we hope Sammy De Grave has gone back and listened to some of the Floyd music made before The Wall. Cause it's a library of greatness start to finish.