--- title: Harry Potter: New Crab Species Named After Severus Snape description: A newly discovered crab species has been given a name that alludes to two beloved Harry Potter characters. canonical: https://time.com/4650671/harry-potter-crab-species-snape/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-26T21:24:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:30.059Z og:title: These Crabs Just Got Named After Harry Potter's Snape og:description: Meet Harryplax severus og:url: https://time.com/4650671/harry-potter-crab-species-snape/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Crabs Just Got Named After Harry Potter's Snape twitter:description: Meet Harryplax severus twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Crab Species Named After the Magical World of _Harry Potter_ Is the Best Tribute to Snape  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 26, 2017 9:24 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 26, 2017 9:24 PM UTC A newly discovered [crab](http://time.com/4395615/a-bunch-of-live-crabs-were-mysteriously-dumped-in-this-subway-car/) species has a name that is sure to please [_Harry Potter_](http://time.com/4413658/donald-trump-harry-potter-study/)fans, as it alludes to two beloved characters from [J.K. Rowling’s](http://time.com/4609174/j-k-rowling-snape-queenie-legilimency/) magical series. Dubbed _Harryplax severus_, the latest addition to the crab family was first collected by late researcher Harry Conley along the shores of Guam nearly 20 years ago, according to [Live Science](http://www.livescience.com/57601-newfound-crab-named-for-harry-potter.html). However, it wasn’t until recently that biologists Peter Ng and Jose Christopher E. Mendoza identified it as a new species. While its genus, _Harryplax_, is a direct nod to both the researcher and Harry Potter himself, _severus_ has an even deeper wizarding world meaning. The moniker is “an allusion to a notorious and misunderstood character in the _Harry Potter_ novels, Professor Severus Snape, for his ability to keep one of the most important secrets in the story, just like the present new species which has eluded discovery until now, nearly 20 years after it was first collected,” Ng and Mendoza wrote in their [ZooKeys study](http://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=11455). > [](https://twitter.com/LiveScience/status/823974445278642176) Harry Potter: New Crab Species Named After Severus Snape ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4650671/harry-potter-crab-species-snape/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4650671/harry-potter-crab-species-snape/"},"headline":"This Crab Species Named After the Magical World of Harry Potter Is the Best Tribute to Snape","datePublished":"2017-01-26T21:24:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:30.059Z","description":"Meet Harryplax severus","url":"https://time.com/4650671/harry-potter-crab-species-snape/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","movies","Books","Pop Culture","Harry Potter","Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4650671/harry-potter-crab-species-snape/","name":"This Crab Species Named After the Magical World of Harry Potter Is the Best Tribute to Snape"}}]}] ```