Scientists Discover Fish With ‘Lord of the Rings’-Inspired Name

High fantasy meets aquatic herbivores

Imagine that, but with the Eye of Sauron at his side.

What looks like a pirhana, has teeth like a human’s and also resembles Sauron’s eye from The Lord of the Rings? The answer might be “that terrifying thing from my nightmares from last week,” but it really is a fish that inhabits the Amazon River. Myloplus Sauronto be precise – and yes, that name really does refer to a certain JRR Tolkien archvillain.

Live Science’s Harry Baker has more details on this strange aquatic specimen, which belongs to the type of fish known as a pacu. The main difference between these types of fish and their carnivorous cousins, the pirhana, becomes clear when you examine their teeth. The Pirhana’s teeth are sharp, as befits their fondness for meat; pacu teeth are blunt and resemble those of humans. Their diet is largely plant-centered.

An article recently published in the journal Neotropical ictyology details the process by which this new Sauron-like species was discovered. According to the scientists behind this project, research on a species of pacu — Myloplus schomburgkii – revealed that what scientists thought was one species of fish was actually three distinct species.

The authors of the article wrote that points of divergence between species include “the shape of the vertical bar, the shape of the anal fin of females, the total number of vertebrae, and (and) the total number of branched rays of the dorsal fin. And there’s a distinct mark on his body that resembles Sauron’s all-seeing eye that so irked Frodo and company.

Sauron isn’t the only disturbing pop culture figure to share his name with a wild animal. In 2020, a crustacean living deep beneath the ocean’s surface was given a scientific name in homage to Metallica, and a number of birds, fish and insects have names inspired by mythology or classical works supernatural literature. And if the researchers who named Mylopus sauron are still looking to name a new species of spider, they won’t have to look far to find a suitable reference.