After extracting the creature and studying it in the lab, scientists confirmed it as a new species.

In his amazement to the amphipod’s unusual form, Dr. Thomas called it L. eltoni after musician and actor Sir Elton John.

As per James Thomas from the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography in Florida, he named the species after Sir Elton John for the reason that he has listened to John’s music in his lab during his entire career in research. “So, when this uncommon crustacean with a enormously enlarged appendage appeared underneath my microscope after a day of accumulating, a picture of the footwear Elton John wore because the Pinball Wizard got here to thoughts”.

Now, L. eltoni is reported from the waters of Hawaii as an invasive species. “A number of years in the past I used to be ed by scientists from the Bishop Museum in Honolulu to assist determine an uncommon amphipod that they had collected”, stated Thomas. It turns out the amphipod discovered in Hawaii is of the same species as that of Indonesia. Due to the timing of its arrival and possible modes of travel, Thomas and his colleagues believe it hitched a ride inside another tunicate, or sponge, attached to a large floating drydock transported to Hawaii from Subic Bay, Philippines. The researcher also found the same species to live in the waters of the seven-thousand-island Republic.

“Such studies show the importance of regular environmental monitoring, especially in tropical environments”, said Thomas, who hopes discoveries like this will help provide greater information on reef health.