Scientists have found a new piranha-related species – naming it after one of the worst villains of all time.
The fish has been dubbed Myloplus sauron or M.sauron, with the latter part of its moniker linking it to Sauron from Lord of The Rings.
Funnily enough – despite its menacing name – this particular fish, a pacu, actually mostly enjoys a plant-based diet.
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Unlike piranhas, it doesn’t have razor-sharp teeth, as reported by What’s The Jam.
The pacu is from the Serrasalmidae family and lives in the Amazon, in the Xingu River basin of Brazil.
As for its appearance, the fish has a distinctive black mark across its body.
It also has a large eye and orange mark near it, which looks slightly like the Eye of Sauron (if you squint really, really hard).
Rupert Collins, a senior curator of fishes at the Natural History Museum, who is also an author of the study, said: “As soon as one of my colleagues came up with the name for this fish, we knew it was perfect for it.
“Its pattern looks a lot like the Eye of Sauron, especially with the orange patches on its body.
“With so much undescribed biodiversity in the Amazon and surrounding rivers, its name is also a good reminder to keep an eye out for undescribed species in South America.”
Alongside the M.sauron, scientists also found another pacu species, the Myloplus aylan.
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