A scientist in China has just described a species of Khezu spider, with a newly discovered arachnid named after the popular Monster Hunter creature.
Author’s note: “Khezu spider” is a simplification of the species name that is never used in the paper, and was our own generalization of the species name
The new species, otacilia khezu sp.is the first of the Otacilia genus to be discovered in China, with other species previously found in Laos.
The paper is published in the Biodiversity Data Journal, with the species described by Yejie Lin, Haifeng Chen, Xifao Wang and Shuqiang Li.
The reason for the Khezu spider name is its defining trait- while spiders are known for their many eyes, o.khezu has none.
The Monster The Khezu Spider Is Named After
Khezu itself is a bit of a fan favorite monster in the Monster Hunter series- despite not being the flagship for any games, the wyvern is a unique entry in the series bestiary, thanks to the rules of its encounter being changed to accommodate its blindness.
This includes being immune to flash bombs as well as not having its own theme music since music only starts when the monster sees you.
Yejie Lin is apparently known for inserting references to games and anime in their work- they’d previously also named spiders after Funny Valentine and Gyro Zeppeli, as well as one more after Rathalos from Monster Hunter.
