The characters of the famous series of heroic fantasy have given their name to new species discovered by scientists Ifremer, based in Brest. The clearest case is that of this abyssal worm, which will now be called Hodor hodor.

They are worms that live in abysmal depths. Between - 4000 and - 5000 m depth, in the Pacific Ocean. Belonging to 17 species divided into four genera, their existence had never been discovered before a Ifremer cruise in 2015 in the northeastern Pacific, between the Hawaiian archipelago and the west coast of Mexico. A campaign that has just been published in the scientific journal The Zoological Journal of The Linnean Society .

And who says new species discovered means that they have to be baptized ... The name of only one of these verses testifies to the source of inspiration of the scientists of the deep environment laboratory in Ifremer: Hodor hodor ... No doubt, it is the Game of Thrones by George RR Martin, screened by HBO, which served as a basis for the names of the species discovered.

Hodor hodor , the best example

Hodor Hodor comes from the nice colossus who accompanies Brendon Starck on the other side of the Wall. And who can not say that "Hodor, hodor" ... Bathyfauvelia glacigena comes from the Latin "glăcĭēs" (ice), and from the Greek word "gennó" (born). Meaning "born of ice", it refers to the white walkers, these beings who seek the destruction of the human world. Another example is Abyssarya acus. his name is inspired by Arya Stark, one of the main heroines of the work. It comes from the Latin "ăbyssus", without limit.

An area of ​​incredible wealth

"These worms are polychaetes, cousins ​​close to the earthworms of our gardens, explains the Ifremer site. They are found from the beaches to the deep seabed. The individuals in the study were collected from the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone. This area is lined with polymetallic nodules, large pebbles rich in ores of economic interest: manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper ...

According to Ifremer, "an abyssal area with nodules houses more biodiversity than without nodules". The species are up to twice as numerous. " With each sample," says Paulo Bonifácio, a postdoctoral fellow at the Deep Environment Laboratory at Ifremer in Brest, " we have raised new species. We could have described nearly a hundred, we focused on these 17 among the best preserved. "