Princess Mononok's San inspires the naming of deep -sea fish

The deep -water fish, new to science, was named after the San, the Princess of the Studio Ghibli Princess Mononoke's remarkable cartoon because of his striking face marking.

The new species, Branchiostegus Sanae, was identified by Chinese researchers after noticing its unique cheeks stripes.

San, a princess raised by the wolves, was the women's war hero of Hayao Miyazaki's animated film since 1997.

Princess Mononok was a sensation in Japan and raised over £ 19 billion (£ 100.4 million) at the cash register.

Recently outdoor fish is a deep -water tile belonging to the family clonion.

As their name implies, deep -sea tiles are located at extreme depths, with some species found 600 m below the surface.

Researchers at the Institute of Oceanology at South China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Jejiang and the Chinese University of Ocean have used genetic analysis to confirm it as a new species.

Inspired by their resemblance to San, they chose “Sana” for the specific name as a tribute.

Student author Haohen Huang said: “In Princess Mononok San, a young woman raised by wolves after she was abandoned by her human parents. She sees herself as part of the forest and struggles to protect her.

“The film deepens in the complex connection between humans and nature, encouraging a message of a harmonious joint existence between the two: something we hope to fade through this naming.”

Deep water tiles are usually found in the seafood markets in Eastern and Southeast Asia.

However, their diversity remains relatively low, with only 31 describing the species in the Branchiostegidae family and 19 in the Branchiostegus genus.

“Finding a new species in this group is a rare and happy event, especially one of the excellent as Brancioostegus Sanae,” says Haohen Huang.

In the last 34 years, only three new types of Branchiostegus have been identified.

The specimens are preserved in sea biological collections to help scientists learn more about them.