Nature & Environment

New 'eye of Sauron' fish species had been hiding in plain sight

By T.K. Randall
June 23, 2024 ·  5 comments

Image Credit: Machado et al., Neotropical Ichthyology 2024 Found living in the Amazon River, the new species - a piranha-like fish known as a pacu - had been hiding in plain sight by masquerading as another type of fish for more than two centuries.

Perhaps the most striking thing about it, however, is a distinctive stripe on its side that happens to bear more than a passing resemblance to the 'Eye of Sauron' - the huge flaming eye sat atop the tower of Barad-Dur in The Lord of The Rings.

This inspired the researchers to name it Myloplus sauron after the Dark Lord himself."Its pattern looks a lot like the Eye of Sauron, especially with the orange patches on its body," said study co-author Rupert Collins of the Natural History Museum in London.

"As soon as one of my colleagues came up with the name for this fish, we knew it was perfect for it."

Let's hope the new species doesn't get any ideas about gold jewelry and world domination...

New piranha-like fish with 'human teeth' and Eye of Sauron marking found deep within the Amazonhttps://t.co/9QV9v8CiI2

- 🌏PEACE✌️☮️🍀🐝♻️ (@SaoghalPeace) June 22, 2024

Source: Live Science | Comments (5)

Tags: Piranha, Sauron