‘Sonic Blast’ Shrimp Species Has Been Named After Rock Legends Pink Floyd

A previously unknown species of shrimp has been found within the deeper of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Panama. Whereas brand new species are found quite routinely, this particular discovery is kind of unique for a couple of reasons.

First off, have you ever heard of any species that uses “sonic energy” to kill its prey? That seems like one thing straight out of Pokémon!

Referring to the shrimp’s deafeningly loud hunting technique, the zoologist who found the species – Sammy de Grave – decided to call it after certainly one of his favourite bands…

Behold: synalpheus PinkFloydi

The jokes are practically limitless – “The Dark Shrimp of the Moon,” “Just another shrimp in The Wall,” “Shrimp On You Crazy Diamond,” “Shrimp Floyd,” etc, etc.

Synalpheus PinkFloydi belongs to a family of shrimp generally known as “pistol shrimp.” The “pistol” refers back to the crustaceans having one claw significantly bigger than the other that produces an extremely loud “snapping” sound to stun or kill prey for meals.

However PinkFloydi is an exceptionally loud pistol shrimp variant, capable of producing a sonic blast that has been discovered to reach up to 210 decibels. (Only for some context, a U.S. Navy warship firing all of its sixteen-inch weapons at the same time produces 215 decibels.)

That is definitely amongst the loudest sounds produced by any recognized creature within the ocean.

Zoologist Sammy de Grave, who has been a lifelong Pink Floyd fan, mentioned of the shrimp’s discovery:

“I often play Pink Floyd as background music whereas I am working… [the discovery was] the perfect opportunity to finally give a nod to my favourite band.”

The web has clearly been going wild with the “Shrimp Floyd” quips, together with some creative tongue-in-cheek imagery referring to iconic Pink Floyd album art.

A shrimp species has been named after Pink Floydhttps://t.co/DA8PAAIBkDpic.twitter.com/dISupIjdyd

— Noisey (@NoiseyMusic) 13 Nisan 2017

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Origin Effects (@origineffects)’in paylaştığı bir gönderi (13 Nis 2017, 01:40 PDT)

While  Roger Waters and David Gilmore have long been estranged and focused on their solo careers, perhaps this new crustacean discovery will melt some of the ice between them…

Shrimp Floyd tour 2017 anybody?