New Species Of Crab Named After Harry Potter Character

A newfound species of crab has been named in honor of a character from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.

According to Live Science, the crab was initially discovered 20 years ago on the shores of Guam. It wasn’t until recently that scientists studying the crab realized it was a new genus and species.

One of the scientists studying the grab is a self-proclaimed “Potterhead.” That scientist came up with the name for the new species: Harryplax severus.

The genus title is actually not a reference to Harry Potter, but to Harry Conley, the researcher who first discovered the crab. However, the species name, severus is a reference to Severus Snape, the potion master at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. Severus was played by the late Alan Rickman in the eight Harry Potter movies.

The researchers wrote that the name is, “an allusion to a notorious and misunderstood character in the Harry Potter novels, Professor Severus Snape, for his ability to keep one of the most important secrets in the story, just like the present new species, which has eluded discovery until now, nearly 20 years after it was first collected.”

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