Cthulhu fhtagn! Indescribably terrifying microbes named for Lovecraft monsters.
Suckling unnamable ichor as they slither through the viscous, shrieking madness of the intestinal tracts of lunatic termites, a pair of incomprehensibly monstrous single-celled organisms have been named after the creations of the early 20th century science fiction pulp writer, H.P. Lovecraft. 聽
A University of British Columbia聽press release quotes Erick James, a biologist a whose impious explorations into the forbidden have unwittingly revealed a terrifying vista of dread.
聽鈥淲hen we first saw them under the microscope they had this unique motion, it ,鈥� said James.聽
Described in the ,听Cthulhu macrofasciculumque聽is聽named for Cthulhu, the towering cosmic entity with an octopus head and dragon wings who first appeared in Lovecraft's 1926 short story, "."聽The microbe's length is about a fifth of the width of a human hair 鈥� an unutterably degenerate human hair 鈥� and it has up to 20 flagella, lash-like protrusions that help it swim.聽Cthylla microfasciculumque is named for聽Cthulhu's secret daughter. It is slightly smaller, with only five flagella.
In addition to saturating the collective unconscious of mankind with the latent madness of unfathomable cosmic eons,听both organisms play an important role in breaking down wood cellulose in the hindgut of the聽Reticulitermes virginicus聽termite.
The gut of a termite is a veritable Cyclopean nightmare corpse-city seething with microorganisms, their squirming, tentacle-like flails a kaleidoscope of polypous perversion.
鈥淭he huge diversity of microbial organisms is a completely untapped resource,鈥� said James in the oozing, fetid聽聽press release. 鈥淪tudying protists can tell us about the evolution of organisms. Some protists cause diseases, but others live in symbiotic relationships, like these flagellates in the intestines of termites.鈥�
Cthulhu macrofasciculumque 补苍诲听Cthylla microfasciculumque are not the only otherworldly horrors with Lovecraftian names. First described in 1994, the聽Pimoa cthulhu spider is native to redwood forests in聽Mendocino and Sonoma counties in California, where it waits until stars are ready so that it may rise again and bring the Earth beneath its terrible sway.
