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New Species Of Crustacean Named After Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma

A new species discovery is a testament to the ever-evolving biome that is our planet and the tenacity for species to adapt to their surroundings. A great part of these discoveries is how the names are chosen. Often chosen by the person or persons who discovered the creature, the names regularly reflect some aspect of the new species. Sometimes the best way to represent the newly discovered species is borrowing the name of a fictional character. So, what is a researcher to do when they discover a new species of crustacean that is both male and female? Name it after Rumiko Takahashi's popular character Ranma Saotome from Ranma 1/2.

The official X (formerly Twitter) account for Hokkaido University Faculty of Science reported the discovery of a new species of tanaidacea: aspeudidae, an often 2 to 5 millimeter shrimp like creature, on July 30. Master's student Yoshinobu Matsushima and Dr. Keiichi Kakui discovered the tanaidacea: aspeudidae at the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium and named it "Apseudes ranma" after the character Ranma.

Hokkaido University posted the abstract of Matsushima and Dr. Kakui's paper in both Japanese and English on its website. The English version is cut short, however. The two researchers chose the name Apseudus ranma because the new species of tanaidacea: aspeudidae is both male and female. While this is an apt name for the new species, Takahashi's Ranma is not technically both male and female. Rather, Ranma exhibits typically male or female phenotypes depending on the temperature of water the character is doused in, becoming a girl when splashed with cold water and back into a boy with hot water.

Rumiko Takahashi did not comment on the name of Apseudus ranma.

This isn't the first time a Takahashi character's name has been used in the name of a new species. In 2014, a species of Harvestman spider was named "Taito kakera" after the pieces of the Shikon no Tama jewel from Inuyasha. More recently, in 2020, the Cigaritis syama Lamuae butterfly was named after Urusei Yatsura's heroine Lum. Takahashi characters are no strangers to being used for new species names.

Fan favorite anime and manga character Ranma Saotome will live on in the name of a tanaidacea: aspeudidae species. And it's just in time for the remake of the Ranma 1/2 anime series, which will premiere in Japan on October 5. The anime will exclusively stream on Netflix after its broadcast.

Sources: Hokkaido University's website (link 2), Hokkaido University's X/Twitter account, Zootaxa (link 2) via Wikipedia