Thursday 19 March 2015

Bug-Eyed Catfish Named for Greedo in 'Star Wars'

by Jeanna Bryner, Live Science Managing Editor | March 18, 2015 05:44pm ET

A catfish with bulging eyes has been named after Greedo, the cute "Star Wars" character with similar bulbous eyes, a tapirlike snout and funky-green skin.


The suckermouth armored catfish (right)
has been named Peckoltia greedoi, after 
the Star Wars bounty hunter Greedo (left).
Credit: Lucasfilm, Ltd. and 20th Century Fox (left); 
Auburn University (right)
Researchers discovered the armored catfish with a sucker mouth, now called Peckoltia greedoi, along Brazil's Gurupi River in 1998. Its dark eyes, sucker mouth and facial bristles give the fish its sci-fi look, which led to its name.

Jonathan Armbruster, biological sciences professor and curator of fishes at the Auburn University Museum of Natural History, realized Greedo was a fitting name after he and colleagues were examining a specimen of the species that was collected in 2005.

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