An endless form most beautiful: Nightwish now have their very own crab species

Nightwish
Nightwish (Image credit: Nuclear Blast)

A new species of crab has been discovered and named Tanidromites nightwishorum in honour of Nightwish.

The band have called the namecheck a “truly fantastic honour” and have even made a statement about the discovery.

The band say: “One new crab species was named after us in honour in particular for our 2015 album Endless Forms Most Beautiful about the evolution of life.

“The new species of crab was found in eastern Austria and lived during the late part of the Jurassic period – around 150 million years ago. While dinosaurs dominated the land, parts of Europe were covered by a warm, shallow sea full of life. 

“Tanidromites nightwishorum was discovered in a fossil coral reef. Crab diversity and abundance exploded for the very first time in their evolutionary history during the Late Jurassic in central Europe.

“Thanks to Dr Adiel A. Klompmaker and his colleagues for this truly fantastic honour. Adiel is curator of palaeontology at the Alabama Museum Of Natural History.”

The scientific paper about the discovery has also been published, with Nightwish the latest artist to be have a species named after them.

Pink Floyd have a pistol shrimp named in their honour, Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster has an extinct monster worm named after him since “he can be regarded as a ‘giant’ when it comes to handling his instrument,” and Lemmy’s name is now attached to a Jurassic crocodile fossil.

Henry Rollins, meanwhile, has a fireworm named after him because it was a “muscly beast.”

Nightwish released their new studio album Human. :II: Nature earlier this year.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.