Here’s a photo of a sea slug, Alderia willowi. They’re a few millimeters long, and they’re endemic to California.
And here’s a photo of Willow Rosenberg, a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She starts off the show (apparently) straight, but later comes out as a lesbian. (Oddly enough, she’s also endemic to California.)
Side note: the Wikipedia article for Willow Rosenberg – who, to reiterate, is a fictional character – is approximately twenty-five times longer than the article for the sea slug, which is an actual living thing. There’s something hilarious about that.
Anyway.
Willow. Alderia willowi. The names…that’s just a coincidence, right?
To quote the biologist who discovered it, Patrick Krug:
[The] name is a tribute to…the character of Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer who displayed a similar flexibility in sexual behavior.
When I found this out, it was literally the best thing to happen to me that entire day.
Because a biologist is a Buffy fan? No, although that’s cool. Because he actually picked a specific Buffy character based on the behavior of the organism? No, although that’s even cooler.
My very favorite thing is that Alderia willowi is now the official name for this animal. Nobody else can change it. If you want to study it, you have to write Alderia willowi in your research paper. If you want to give a talk on it, that’s the name you have to give.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is now, irrevocably, part of the edifice of scientific knowledge.
It’s the simple things, you know?
(P.S. Yes, I’m aware that scientific names can, under certain circumstances, change. DO NOT RUIN THIS FOR ME.)
Brian D. Buckley 
The part about Wikipedia made me laugh. I remember noting a while ago that various fictional elements and forces from the Star Trek and Star Wars universes are covered in much more loving detail in Wikipedia than most elements and forces which actually exist.
Science is indeed cool. I read a few reviews yesterday of the Pono music player — developed and promoted by Neil Young — and it was pointed out that if you do actual blind A-B testing with actual people that nobody can really hear the difference in sound that the device theoretically provides. But the ads, of course, don’t provide science; they provide enthusiastic endorsements from people like Tom Petty and Elvis Costello.
Well, of course Star Wars is covered better…there are so many forces, but there’s only one “the Force.” 😉
Revealed, your opinion is!
I remember reading about a harry potter influenced scientific name, but I can’t find the article…
anyways, here are some other scientific names that are pretty sweet! I found these in an effort to find the harry potter one.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/babymantis/the-best-taxonomy-humor-1opu
The Harry Potter name, was it this guy?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampulex_dementor
I’m 10 years late to the party, but finding this post was the best thing that happened to *me* today… I’m the scientist/Buffy fan who named Alderia willowi, a species I have studied since 1993 and then got to name in 2007. It is the only marine animal that can switch from laying big eggs to small eggs in response to changing environmental conditions, an adaptation to California’s natural rainy season-dry season cycle. Also it once raised the Temple of Proserpexa to try to destroy the world but a yellow crayon… wait, no. Anyway this was the first species I ever named, and it has great personal significance, so I am very happy it brought joy to anyone else. Please alert Alyson Hannigan..
Wow, that was you? That’s really cool. You have excellent taste in taxonomic nomenclature. Good luck with your research, and thanks for taking the time to comment!