A Worm by Any Other Name

A San Diego teenager and a class at were selected by the public to name two newly discovered species of deep-sea worms. The Children’s School first grade class and 19-year-old Laura McIntyre won the Name a Species Contest held by . The worms in the Vrijenhoekia and Podarkeopsis genera were discovered by .

The local aquarium held a week-long online voting competition and named the winners on Wednesday during World Oceans Day.

The Children’s School class submitted the species name “falenothiras,” the Greek word for “whale hunter.” McIntyre submitted the species name ketea, the Latin word for “sea monsters.” These two species names will become the official scientific names of the species, according to Birch Aquarium.

More than 165 species name suggestions were submitted in naming contest.