San de la Princesa Mononoke inspires the name of deep water fish

A new fish of new waters in science has brought the name of San, the warrior princess of the historic animated film by Studio Ghibli, Princess Mononoke, due to its striking facial brands.

The new species, Branchiostegus healthy, was identified by Chinese researchers after they noticed their unique cheeks stripes.

San, a princess raised by Lobos, was the protagonist painted of the 1997 animated film by Hayao Miyazaki.

Princess Mononoke was a sensation in Japan and raised more than 19 billion yen (£ 100.4 million) at the box office.

The newly discovered fish is a deep -water mosaic fish, belonging to the Branchiostegidae family.

As the name implies, there are deep water mosaic fish at extreme depths, and some species are as deep as 600m below the surface.

Researchers from the Institute of Oceanology of the Southern China Sea, the Academy of Sciences of China, the University of Zhejiang and the University of Ocean of China, used the genetic analysis to confirm it as a new species.

Inspired by their similarity with San, they chose “healthy” for the specific name as a tribute.

The main author of the study, Haochen Huang, said: “In Princess Mononoke, San is a young woman raised by Lobos after being abandoned by her human parents. He looks as part of the forest and struggles to protect him.

“The film deepens the complex relationship between humans and nature, promoting a message of harmonious coexistence between the two: something we hope to echo through this name.”

Deep -watery mosaic fish are commonly found in seafood markets throughout the East and Southeast Asia.

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

“Finding a new species in this group is a rare and fortunate event, especially one as distinctive as Branchiostegus healthy,” said Haochen Huang.

Only three new species have been identified in the genus Branchiostegus in the last 34 years.

Specimens have been preserved in marine biological collections to help scientists learn more about them.