Scientists have named a new species of fish discovered in the Orinoco River after Donegal singer Enya.
The scientists explained that they used to listen to Enya’s 1998 hit Orinoco Flow while working with the fish, so when it came time to chose a name – their choice was clear.
Doctoral candidate at Oregon State University Michael Burns says that Leporinus Enyae is a “beautiful little fish”, the details of which were published in a scientific journal ‘Neotropical Ichthyology’ earlier this week.
Leporinus Enyae. Picture: Oregon State University
Burns says; “Whenever we were in the lab at Oregon State working on the fishes, Ben Frable would always play Orinoco Flow.”
Co-author Marcus Chatfield added; “I heard the song so often in the lab it got stuck in my head.
“Then I just started listening to it on purpose when I was taking measurements of the specimens. When the time came around for choosing names, it just felt right to name this new beautiful fish from the Orinoco after the artist who wrote that beautiful song.”
Amateur harp player and co-author Brian Sidlauskas concluded that all the scientists on the team are “big fans of her music”.
Tags: