When I first heard that a new species of catfish had been named after something related to entertainment, I totally thought it was named after either Nev Schulman or Max Joseph, the cyber-sleuths on MTV's Catfish: The TV Show. Well, they have nothing to do with it, which is a good thing because the actual new name makes so much more sense.
With its huge, dark eyes that stare into your soul and puckered mouth, a new species of catfish was named after Greedo from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Greedo's ginormous, bug-like eyes, his snout and his large ears that mimic the catfish's bristly, whisker-like barbels make this Star Wars character pretty much the twin of this new catfish species.
Researchers first discovered the catfish, taxonomically known as Peckoltia greedoi, along Brazil's Gurupi River in 1998. Jonathan Armbruster, a professor of biological sciences at Auburn University and the curator of fishes for the Auburn University Museum of Natural History, obtained the catfish specimens in 2005 for his manuscript on the genus. Now the catfish finally has an out-of-this-world name, thanks to Armbruster and his colleagues David Werneke, Milton Tan and Chris Hamilton.
"Chris looked at the specimen and said 'that looks like that guy from Star Wars,'" Armbruster said in a statement. "After a little prodding, I realized he was talking about Greedo. We then knew what the name had to be. The Peckoltia greedoi does bear a striking resemblance to Greedo."
Though Greedo only appeared in one Star Wars movie, he is one of the more recognizable characters of the franchise. He was a Rodian bounty hunter sent by Jabba the Hutt to capture Han Solo. However, Greedo had a little too much hubris, and when he thought he finally had Han at the Mos Eisley cantina, Han shot him. Let's hope Greedo the catfish is a bit swifter in the wild.
Greedo isn't the first fictional character to be anointed to the real-live animal kingdom. There's a mushroom named after Spongebob Squarepants, a catfish named after Batman and a dinosaur named after Sauron from The Lord of the Rings. Greedo actually isn't even the first Star Wars character to lend its name to an animal species. Han Solo got there first too.
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