Newly-Discovered 'Vibranium' Fish Named in Honor of Wakanda

[demmiblue]

While SCUBA diving off the coast of Zanzibar, marine biologist Luiz Rocha saw a fish he had never seen before. He sent a photograph to his collaborator Yi-Kai Tea, currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Sydney, who confirmed that it was a new species of fairy wrasse from the genus Cirrhilabrus. As a fan of the Marvel cinematic universe who had just helped to discover a bright purple fish in an isolated environment in Africa, Tea knew there was just one name they could give their discovery: Cirrhilabrus wakanda, the Vibranium fairy wrasse.

Tea had long hoped that someone would find a member of this genus off the coast of Eastern Africa, which had represented a gap in the distribution of these animals. “When Luiz sent me a photo of this new fish he collected, I knew instantly what it was,” Tea said. “He found the ‘missing piece’ to this biogeographical puzzle!”

https://earther.gizmodo.com/newly-discovered-vibranium-fish-named-in-honor-of-wakan-1836306355?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=io9_twitter

[CatWoman]

1. WAKANDA FOREVER!!!!

[jberryhill]

2. A Fish Called Wakanda?

[Bayard]

3. First thing I thought of!

Great minds and all that.

[jberryhill]

4. It's a Wa... Wa... Wak-ka-ka-ka... Wa-kaaa...