A new piranha species was recently discovered in the Amazon which resembles the fiery eye symbol for the villain Sauron from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” book and film series.
An international team of researchers has found and identified a new species of pacu, a piranha relative with a plant-based diet and humanlike teeth.
Besides its odd pearly whites, the newfound species has striking orange and black markings — including a bold vertical black bar stretching across its flank. The marks inspired the fish’s name, Myloplus sauron, according to a study published Monday in the journal Neotropical Ichthyology.
Piranha species “looks like Sauron’s eye”
Sauron“Me and the coauthors thought (the name) would be a nice idea — it really looks like the Sauron’s eye,” said study coauthor Victória Pereira, a graduate student in biology at the University of Paulista in São Paulo, Brazil.
The researchers hoped the pop culture reference would draw attention to the fish and efforts to protect biodiversity in the Amazon, Pereira added.
Besides Myloplus sauron, the researchers also discovered the species Myloplus aylan, which they described as having a slightly thicker black bar on its flank. The Myloplus genus falls within the Serrasalmidae fish family, which is made up of piranha and pacu species.
Because piranhas and pacus are closely related and have similar features, differentiating the species can be difficult, the authors noted in the study. Both pacu and piranha species can change appearance throughout various stages of their life, and males and females often look different from one another, also making the various species hard to tell apart, according to London’s Natural History Museum.
The eye-catching fish is not the only animal named for Tolkien’s Dark Lord. A genus of butterflies was found in May 2023 with spots that looked like eyes on its wings, reminding researchers of the well-known symbol from the trilogy. There is also a species of tree frog, a dung beetle and a genus of dinosaurs named after the character.
Myloplus sauron and Myloplus aylan have flat, blunt teeth used to chew on plants, a stark contrast with the razor-sharp teeth found in piranhas, but similar to their other pacu counterparts. While some species of piranhas are known for their carnivorous diets, all species of pacus are primarily herbivores.
Last year, a young boy in Oklahoma made an unusual discovery – a fish that looks a lot like a piranha but has teeth that strangely resemble human teeth concealed within its fishy mouth.
The fish, identified as a pacu, was caught by Charlie Clinton in a pond near his home on July 15. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) shared this intriguing find on their Facebook page.
