New mushroom named after Spongebob Sqaurepants

Of all the stupid things to name a wonderful new species of mushroom after... a yellow pant-wearing cartoon character really takes the biscuit.

But low and behold, the people who discovered this sea-sponge shaped mushroom in the forests of Borneo have done just that.

Researchers at San Francisco State University christened the unusual fungus Spongiforma squarepantsii.  

Spongebob Squarepants

The full article can be read here on on the BBC website.

The BBC article, which was informed by a story in the scientific journal Mycologia, said that in addition to its resemblance to a sea sponge, under a scanning electron microscope, the spore-producing area of the fungus looks like a seafloor carpeted in tube sponges.

It was these characteristics that further convinced the researchers to name the species after the cartoon character.

With its odd shapes and fruity scent, I think this mushroom could have inspired a little more imagination — something like say, Sophiforma Haydocksii.