Seres vivos nombrados en mención a personas o personajes famosos (complemento de publicaciones de la Revista Cervantes Ciencia) - Living beings named after famous people or characters (complement of publications of the Revista Cervantes Ciencia).

There are many existing and extinct living beings, which in the field of binomial nomenclature (genus and species), have been named in honor or mention to famous people or characters. On the first occasion, the Revista Cervantes Ciencia published an issue dealing with some new species of animals named after celebrities, and on a second occasion, another issue dealt with the nomenclature of some species in honor of musical artists. In both publications in Spanish, you can see the images of the species accompanied by photographs of the people; language is not a limiting factor.

In this publication, as a complement to what has been published in the Revista Cervantes Ciencia, I will show another group of living beings named in mention or honor to famous people or characters.

Rogadinae is a cosmopolitan subfamily of koinobiont endoparasitoids of the order Lepidoptera. A koinobiont is a parasitoid that does not stop the development of its host upon parasitization. All Rogadinae species induce hardening of the host larva before pupation, producing a "mummy". The subfamily Rogadinae includes the genus Aleiodes, which corresponds to parasitoid wasps that commonly attack second and third instar lepidopteran caterpillars, causing the host to mummify in the later instars, and within the hardened host skin the parasitoid pupates. Finally, the wasp emerges through a hole in the posterior region of the mummy.

This genus includes the species Aleiodes falloni, named after the American television host, comedian, actor, singer, musician and producer James Thomas Fallon, known as Jimmy Fallon.

There is also the species Aleiodes elleni, named after the American actress, comedian and television host Ellen Lee DeGeneres.

Finally in the same genus, the species Aleiodes gaga, whose etymology is in honor of the popular singer and performer Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga.

It should be noted that there is also in the family Membracidae, a family of hemipteran insects, a new genus that was described in Nicaragua that includes only one species Kaikaia gaga. The name of the new genus derives from the indigenous Miskito people, who inhabit part of northern Nicaragua. In the Miskito language "kaikaia" means "to see", and the specific name derives from the artistic name of the singer and also actress, Lady Gaga.

From the Stanley Glacier exposure of the Middle Cambrian Stephen Formation in Kootenay National Park (British Columbia, Canada), a new extinct arthropod, Kootenichela deppi, was described. This taxon possesses a number of primitive arthropod characteristics, such as an elongate trunk consisting of at least 29 segments, truncal appendages, and large pedunculate eyes. The cephalon or head includes a possible antenna-like appendage and raptorial appendages. Its characteristics were indicators that placed it in the extinct class Megacheira; a class known as the " great appendage" arthropods. The nomenclature was in honor of the actor Johnny Depp for his portrayal of Edward Scissorhands in the 1990 film of the same name, because his hands reminiscent of those of this taxon. To give an idea of the extinct arthropod, the following image represents, with a drawing, an individual of Megacheira.

Pritha garfieldi is a species of spider named after the American-English actor Andrew Russell Garfield, who played the role of Spider-Man in "The Amazing Spider-Man" film series.

Another spider, Filistata maguirei, is named after American actor and film producer Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire, who played the role of Spider-Man in the "Spider-Man" film series. I did not get a free content licensed image to post on Hive, but it is worth noting that the modern spider crab superfamily (Majoidea) ranges in size from a few millimeters to over a meter in carapace length. Their long, slender legs and pyriform or triangular shape give many of them a spider-like appearance. One of the genera is Mithrax, and another, Damithrax, these genera were reviewed morphologically and differences were noted in relation to the species Damithrax spinosissimus, which resulted in a new genus, Maguimithrax, to accommodate Damithrax spinosissimus which is now known as Maguimithrax spinosissimus; for this species I did get a properly licensed image which I show below. The genus Maguimithrax is a combination of the surname of Tobey Maguire, the actor in three Spider-Man movies, and the genus Mithrax.

Among beetles of the family Carabidae is the genus Agra. This genus includes the species Agra schwarzeneggeri. The specific epithet, schwarzeneggeri, is the Latinized genitive form of the family name of the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and was given in reference to the markedly developed (biceps-like) middle femurs of the males of this species, reminiscent of the actor's physique.

In the same genus is the species Agra liv, the specific epithet, liv, is a noun in apposition based on the first name of the actress Liv Tyler, protagonist of the movie "Armageddon", and was given because the existence of this species of beetle depends on the rainforest not suffering an Armageddon.

Another species in the same genus is Agra katewinsletae, the specific epithet, katewinsletae, is the Latinized genitive form of the combined name of the actress Kate Winslet, protagonist of the movie "Titanic", and was given because her character did not go down with the ship, but the researchers thought they could not say the same for the species if the entire rainforest becomes grassland.

On a cruise organized in part by the University of Puerto Rico, in a coral reef ecosystem off the island, researchers collected at a depth of nearly 70 meters a new species of marine mite and named it Litarachna lopezae in honor of Puerto Rican singer Jennifer Lopez.

Etmopterus benchleyi is a species of shark found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from Nicaragua to Panama, with most specimens collected off Costa Rica. The depth range of the collections was between 836 and 1443 meters. The species was named in honor of Peter Benchley, author of "Jaws", who was later an avid shark conservationist. His legacy, the Benchley Awards, recognize outstanding achievements in ocean conservation. Notably, the privilege of deciding a common name for this species was bestowed upon four young shark enthusiasts, ages 8 to 14, and relatives of the first author of the published research on the discovery. The suggested common name was, the "Ninja Lanternshark", and refers to the uniform black coloration and reduced complement of photophores (light-emitting organs) used as concealment in this species, somewhat reminiscent of the typical outfit and stealthy behavior of a Japanese ninja.

The name of the crab species, Actaea grimaldii, was in honor of the Prince of Monaco Albert II Grimaldi, for having patronized the "Papua Niugini" Expedition and other biodiversity expeditions of the "Our Planet Reviewed" programme conducted by the National Museum of Natural History (Paris, France) and "Pro-Natura International". The red and white color pattern of the species also alludes to the colors associated with the "House of Grimaldi".

In honor of Donald J. Trump, a species of moth was given the name Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, the reason was to bring wider public attention to the need to continue protecting fragile habitats in the United States that still contain many undescribed species. The specific epithet was selected because of the resemblance of the scales on the frons (head) of the moth to Donald Trump’s hairstyle.

The ant genus Zasphinctus Wheeler is a moderately small genus distributed in the Afrotropical, Indo-Malayan and Australian regions. The species, Zasphinctus obamai, is named after Barack Hussein Obama, in recognition of his significant efforts to conserve fragile natural habitats around the world. In addition, the species' locality is geographically close to the hometown of Obama's paternal family in western Kenya.

The only coral reef fish species endemic to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument known from two specimens and three additional individuals observed at depths of 90-92 meters at Kure Atoll and Pearl and Hermes Atoll, within the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, is named Tosanoides obama, also in honor of Barack Obama, in recognition of his efforts to protect and preserve the natural environment, and in particular, for a decision to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument several weeks after the discovery of this species.

Likewise, a bird that occupies the Amazon basin west of the Madeira River, both north and south of the Solimões/Marañón River, and rises in the Andean foothills to at least 1700 meters in southern Ecuador and 1850 meters in northern Bolivia, was given the name Nystalus obamai, in recognition of Obama's remarkably positive and omnipresent influence on the world stage and, in particular, to support his strong initiative to bring solar energy development, because according to its discoverers, the widespread use of solar energy worldwide will benefit everyone, including the flora, fauna and people of the Amazonia.

Oskar Scheibel was a Croatian entomologist apparently so fanatical about Hitler that in 1937 he named a new species of coleopteran of the family Carabidae provided to him by a Slovenian collector as Anophthalmus hitleri, in honor of the newly elected chancellor in 1934. The fact that the coleoptera is small, has no eyes, and its distribution is limited to a few damp caves in Slovenia raises some doubts about the nature of the honor bestowed upon it. The only Nazi attribute the beetle possesses is its brown color, the color preferred by the famous Brown Shirts (Sturmabteilung, or Storm Troopers). Nevertheless, according to some sources, Hitler was pleased with the recognition and sent a letter of thanks to Scheibel.

Alexandra Elbakyan, creator of the Sci-Hub website, in recognition of her contribution to making scientific knowledge available to all researchers, was honored by scientists by naming a wasp Idiogramma elbakyanae.

Finally, an unusual sponge-shaped terrestrial fungus was named Spongiforma squarepantsii, after the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, whose shape shares a strong resemblance with the new fungus. In addition, the hymenium, when observed with scanning electron microscopy, looks like a seafloor covered with tubular sponges, reminiscent of the fictional home of SpongeBob SquarePants.