Newly-discovered Crustacean Named After Metallica

A newly-discovered abyssal crustacean has just been baptized by a team of European scientists after heavy metal act Metallica, which the band posted on their Instagram page on February 27.

The band shared an artist’s rendition of the crustacean, which was named Macrostylis metallicola. In a caption, Metallica exclaimed, “We’ve played on all seven continents, made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and now… we’re a crustacean!” 

Dr. Torben Riehl of the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany and Dr. Bart De Smet of Ghent University in Belgium found Macrostylis metallicola in the depths of the Northern Pacific ocean. The band said that Dr. Riehl named the creature as such because he was a long-time fan of Metallica, but also noted that the creature – also known as “The Thing That Should Not Be” – shares some similarities with the band.

“The worm-like creature dwells in complete darkness, has no eyes, and is colorless,” Metallica continued in the photo’s caption. “Talk about Blackened! It also lives amongst metallic nodules containing cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel and rare-earth elements. So it basically lives in a rock stadium? Now that’s one metal crustacean!”

In Dr. Riehl’s own statement, he said, “The powerful music of Metallica has accompanied me the majority of my life. Songs such as ‘Master of Puppets’ and ‘One’ are outstanding masterpieces in rock history and I am thrilled to be able to give something back to the band by naming a new species after them!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9FQ6GqA02F/?utm_source=ig_embed