Cthulhu macrofasciculumque

Cthulhu macrofasciculumque
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukarya
(unranked): Excavata
Phylum: Metamonada
Class: Parabasalia
Genus: Cthulhu
James & Keeling, 2012
Species: C. macrofasciculumque
Binomial name
Cthulhu macrofasciculumque
James & Keeling, 2012

Cthulhu macrofasciculumque is a species of protist. It lives in the guts of termites.[1]

Habitat

It lives in the hindgut of Prorhinotermes simplex (Cuban subterranean termite) and helps them to digest wood.[2]

Appearance

The microbe's length is about a fifth of the width of a human hair, in the range of 10 to 20 µm, and it has around 20 flagella. Cthylla is slightly smaller, with only five flagella.[3]

Naming

The octopus-like movements and appearance of Cthulhu macrofasciculumque (as well as another protist that assists in the digestion of wood by termites) reminded researcher Erick James of Cthulhu, H. P. Lovecraft's fictional cosmic entity. James named the other protist, Cthylla microfasciculumque, after Cthulhu's "daughter" Cthylla.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cthulhu macrofasciculumque.
  1. ↑ James, Erick R.; Okamoto, Noriko; Burki, Fabien; Scheffrahn, Rudolf H.; Keeling, Patrick J.; Badger, Jonathan H. "Cthulhu Macrofasciculumque n. g., n. sp. and Cthylla Microfasciculumque n. g., n. sp., a Newly Identified Lineage of Parabasalian Termite Symbionts". PLoS ONE. 8 (3): e58509. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058509. PMC 3601090Freely accessible. PMID 23526991.
  2. ↑ Netburn, Deborah (5 April 2013). "A teeny tiny Cthulhu monster, found in a termite's gut". L. A. Times. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  3. ↑ O'Carroll, Eoin (5 April 2013). "Cthulhu fhtagn! Indescribably terrifying microbes named for Lovecraft monsters.". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
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