Plastic is everywhere. We know that much. We can find it on land, on air, and on water. And it appears that it has already gone to places not yet reached and discovered by scientists. One example of this statement is this deep-sea crustacean, which already had plastic in its stomach when scientists discovered it. With this being the case, scientists then decide to name this creature after plastic — Eurythenes plasticus.
This newly discovered species lives some 22,637 feet underwater in the depths of the Mariana Trench. It’s a shrimp-like creature, and researchers have so far found only one of these crustaceans with plastic inside its stomach. This was still concerning enough, however, that the team decided to incorporate “plastic” into the species’ name. This is the inaugural moment plastic joined the taxonomic ranks of biological classification.
“We decided on the name Eurythenes plasticus as we wanted to highlight the fact that we need to take immediate action to stop the deluge of plastic waste into our oceans,” said Alan Jamieson, the head of the research mission to discover the species, in a World Wildlife Fund statement.
More details about this creature over at Gizmodo.
(Image Credit: Gizmodo)