MEMBERS of the public helped name a newly identified deep-sea chiton after more than 8,000 suggestions were submitted through a global online naming campaign led by Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (Sosa) in collaboration with Pensoft Publishers and science YouTuber Ze Frank.
The official scientific description of the species was published today in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal following a review of submissions received via social media.
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Researchers selected the name
Ferreiraella populi, with the species name
populi, a Latin singular noun in the genitive case meaning of the people, independently proposed by 11 participants during the campaign.
Public interest in the rare deep-sea chiton from the genus
Ferreiraella grew after it was featured in an episode of Ze Frank’s True Facts
YouTube series, which invited viewers to submit scientific names and explanations.
The animal has eight armoured shell plates, an iron-clad radula, and hosts a small group of worms near its tail that feed on its excrement, prompting more than 8,000 entries within a week, with Prof Dr Julia Sigwart, co-chair of Sosa at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, saying they were overwhelmed by the response and the massive number of creative name suggestions.
