This undated picture released by the National Science Foundation on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, shows a Caribbean fish known as French Grunt infested with the "Gnathia marleyi" parasite. Arkansas State University marine biologist Paul Sikkel discovered the tiny blood-sucking marine parasite, a new species within the family of gnathiids, that infests fish on Caribbean coral reefs and named it after Jamaican reggae icon Bob Marley. (AP Photo/National Science Foundation, Elizabeth Brill)
LOS ANGELES—A small crustacean parasite which feeds on fish in the Caribbean has been named after Bob Marley, in what the biologist who discovered it calls a tribute to the late reggae icon.
The tiny shellfish, a blood feeder that inhabits the coral reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean, has been called Gnathia marleyi after the Jamaican music legend.
“I named this species, which is truly a natural wonder, after Marley because of my respect and admiration for Marley’s music,” said Dr. Paul Sikkel, a field marine biologist at Arkansas State University.
“Plus, this species is as uniquely Caribbean as was Marley,” he added, quoted on the website of the National Science Foundation, as well as that of the university.
The creature, from the family of gnathiid isopods, is the first new species to be found in the Caribbean in more than two decades, the National Science Foundation added.
The juvenile Gnathia marleyi conceals itself inside coral rubble, sea sponge or algae, and launches surprise attacks on fish which it then infests. Adult gnathiids do not feed at all, said Sikkel.
“We believe that adults subsist for two to three weeks on the last feedings they had as juveniles and then die, hopefully after they have reproduced,” he said.
The health of Caribbean coral reefs is declining due to disease. “We are currently researching the relationships between the health of coral reef communities and gnathiid populations,” said Sikkel.
Naming new species after celebrities is nothing new: President Barack Obama has a lichen named after him; Microsoft boss Bill Gates has a flower fly, and Elvis Presley has a wasp, said the Foundation.
There was no immediate response to requests for reaction from the Marley family about the late musician’s new biological honor, or from his record label, Island Records.