TROY, Ala (WDHN) — A graduate student at Troy University has discovered a new species of microscopic mud dragon and named it after her beloved late brother.

According to Troy University, Madison Kennedy, a Troy graduate student working on her master’s thesis, saw that while studying mud dragons, a few of them looked different from others she had observed.

The University describes a mud dragon as a microscopic creature in the phylum Kinorhyncha that lives on the bottom of the ocean.

The new species resembled a photo that her marine biology professor had on the wall of a lab and were a new species that had been spotted earlier. There were not enough animals collected to officially describe it, but that changed after Kennedy’s description and publication, according to the University.

Kennedy’s new species, Echinoderes zacharyi, which differs from other mud dragons due to the smooth appearance of its body, was named after her late brother Zachery, who passed away during her first year of graduate school from Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.

He had the most infectious and charismatic personality. I want to carry on his legacy, and I want to bring him in because he is missing. I want to continue talking about him, so what better way to keep his memory alive than naming something that will go far beyond our lives.

Madison Kennedy, Troy University Press Release
  • Echinoderes Zacharyi- Courtesy of Troy University
  • Madison Kennedy- Courtesy of Troy University

The study of mud dragons is relatively new and in the university press release, Kennedy says the ocean is an untapped source of discoveries.