‘Hotlips’ fungus wins species naming competition

Judges said 12-year-old Rachael Blackman’s common name for the Octospora humosa perfectly captured the appearance of this lurid orange, moss-dwelling fungus • Full list of winners here A 12-year-old girl has beaten more than 5,000 entrants to win a competition to invent the best new moniker for 10 endangered and overlooked species lacking a common name. A lurid orange fungus, previously only known by its rather forgettable scientific nomenclature, Octospora humosa , was named “hotlips” by Rachael Blackman from Swindon, perfectly capturing the appearance of the moss-dwelling member of a group of fungi called discomycetes, or “discos”. “They looked a bit like lips and I thought the name suited it really well because of the bright orange colour,” said Rachael. “It’s exciting to know it will always be called hotlips.” The judges for the competition , which is run by Natural England and the Guardian, said they loved the notion of a “hotlips disco”. “It’s very simple, it’s very apt and it’s the kind of thing that people will remember, which cuts to the heart of the competition,” said Pete Brotherton, head of biodiversity at Natural England and one of a judging panel including Guardian columnist George Monbiot and Liz Holden of the British Mycologists Society. Brotherton said he hoped the popular competition, now in its second year, would draw people into the natural world and get them looking for these unheralded species, which include the largest sea squirt in Britain , a lichen that thinks it is a mushroom and a sea slug that recycles stings . “These are species that now have names. Some of them are declining and may one day in the future be saved because of that name,” added Brotherton. “Something called Nymphon gracile is challenging but if people are told the gangly lancer is on the brink of extinction this could tug the heart strings. These names could potentially make the difference between life and death for these species in the future.” Among nine other winners, who will receive a commemorative certificate from Natural England, were Diane Williamson who came up with Ascot hat, a pink-tinted mushroom that would not look out of place as race-going headgear and was first recorded near Ascot, and user greenmeeny, who suggested the sea squirt should be called Neptune’s heart. The sea squirt, which grows up to 12cm long and is large enough to have small anemones growing inside its leathery, milk-white “tunic”, must be Roman on account of its tunic, explained greenmeeny on the Guardian site . “It resembles a heart in that blood is pumped through it, and must belong to the Roman sea god Neptune because its circulation flows and ebbs back and forth like the tide.” The judges said: “We did wonder if it mattered that the species is a milky white instead of red, but we decided the heart of a sea god might be any colour.” Other species honoured with a common name for the first time included Coryphella browni , a striking sea slug with bright red tentacle-like cerata which was called scarlet lady and Chrysotoxum elegans , a medium-sized hoverfly found in the south-west England and Wales which was given the memorable name zipper-back, inspired by the stripy, zip-like markings across its abdomen. When deciding upon the overall winner, the judges had no idea that hotlips was invented by a 12-year-old. But Brotherton said it was very appropriate that Rachael had won this year’s competition. “They [younger people] look at things with a creativity and wonder that adults have sometimes lost touch with,” he said. “She’s helping to grow the next generation of naturalists and maybe she’ll be one of them.” Despite a passion for the ballet which has seen her name one of her goldfish Darcy, Rachael confirmed she would like to work as a zoologist in the future. • Full list of winners here Wildlife Conservation Biodiversity Marine life Insects Animals Taxonomy Biology Zoology Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk

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