A new species is named Macrostylis metallicola, and Metallica is pretty pumped

By Angela Garrity, Guest blogger 

One of the biggest heavy metal bands of all time can check a new box in their list of accomplishments of world domination in an unlikely category — crabs.

7News reports that a new crustacean species, Macrostylis metallicola, was discovered by Dr. Torben Riehl and Dr. Bart De Smet of Ghent University in Belgium and named in honor of the band and to raise awareness about the environment.

The 1.5cm crustacean is eyeless and discovered just over two miles (4km) below the oceans’ surface. The new species' environment is made up of various metallic elements that are several million years old, including cobalt, copper, and nickel. The hope is that by naming the crustacean after the heavy metal outfit, Dr. Riehl hopes to raise awareness as the seafloor could soon be mined due to the growing demand for raw materials.

The band took the naming convention quite well, as they took to their Instagram to make the announcement.

“It also lives amongst metallic nodules containing cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, and rare-earth elements. So it basically lives in a rock stadium? Now that’s one metal crustacean!” the band said in the post.

Who wouldn’t love sneaking in heavy metal nods to rock legends for animal classifications? It's all in the name of science, naturally.

Related: Metallica released a children's book that you can buy now

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