A new species of a worm has been found in Belize. And judging by the size of
the worm seen here on the far left of your screen, it’s not what you would
call big news, but it is news because the featherworm as it is called has never
been recorded anywhere else. American expert on marine invertebrates Greg Rouse
found it while snorkelling in a mangrove off the Belizean coast two years ago.
He says it is part of a new species and a new genus of Belize featherworms.
And while it’s distinctly Belizean, the name is another matter. The featherworm
has been dubbed the “Goodhart-Zorum”, taking the title of Jeff Goodhartz.
He paid US$$5,000 to have the insect named after him. Goodhartz is single and
has no children, and thought it would be a good way to have his name live on.
He bought the naming rights from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which
offers a name-a-species program. The idea is that the money earned from selling
off the name is then put back into research funding.
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