Cthulhu macrofasciculumque is a species of excavates. It lives in the guts of termites.[1]
| Cthulhu macrofasciculumque | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Phylum: | Metamonada |
| Subphylum: | Trichozoa |
| (unranked): | Parabasalia |
| Class: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | Cthulhu James & Keeling, 2012 |
| Species: | C. macrofasciculumque
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| Binomial name | |
| Cthulhu macrofasciculumque James & Keeling, 2012
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Habitat
editIt lives in the hindgut of Prorhinotermes simplex (Cuban subterranean termite) and helps them to digest wood.[2]
Appearance
editThe 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
editThe 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.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit
- ^ a b James, Erick R.; Okamoto, Noriko; Burki, Fabien; Scheffrahn, Rudolf H.; Keeling, Patrick J.; Badger, Jonathan H. (2013). "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. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...858509J. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058509. PMC 3601090. PMID 23526991.
- ^ Netburn, Deborah (5 April 2013). "A teeny tiny Cthulhu monster, found in a termite's gut". L. A. Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ 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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