Marley has joined US President Barack Obama, American pop star Beyoncé, British rock legend Mick Jagger and American singer Elvis Presley in having a biological species named in their honour.
Marine biologist Paul Sikkel, an assistant professor of marine ecology and a field marine biologist at Arkansas State University, said on Wednesday that he named a small parasitic crustacean in the family of gnathiidae, a blood feeder that infests fish in Caribbean coral reefs, “Gnathia marleyi”.
“I named this species, which is truly a natural wonder, after Marley, because of my respect and admiration for Marley’s music,” he said in a statement.