First we met Prince Charles the newly found breed of frog, now meet Bob Marley the blood-feeding fish parasite

He sold millions of records, was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has a statue erected in his memory in his native Jamaica.



Now, more than 30 years after his death, reggae singer Bob Marley has had a blood-feeding fish parasite named after him.



The Gnathia marleyi is a small crustacean that lurks in corners of Caribbean coral reefs and feasts on fish.

The late Jamaican singer Bob Marley (right) has had a blood-feeding fish parasite (left) named after him

The naming, announced in scientific journal Zootaxia, comes less than a week after it emerged that a new species of frog had been named after the Princess of Wales.

Marley's name was chosen for the parasite by field marine biologist Paul Sikkel, who said it was the first new species to be described in the Caribbean for more than two decades.



Marley fan: The name was chosen by field marine biologist Paul Sikkel

Dr Sikkel, an assistant professor of biology at Arkansas State University, said: 'I named this species, which is truly a natural wonder, after Marley because of my respect and admiration for Marley's music.



'Plus, this species is as uniquely Caribbean as was Marley.'



By concealing themselves within coral rubble, sea sponge or algae, juvenile Gnathia marleyi are able to launch surprise attacks on fish and then infest them.



Dr Sikkel said that adult gnathiids do not feed at all.



'We believe that adults subsist for two to three weeks on the last feedings they had as juveniles and then die, hopefully after they have reproduced,' he added.



Sikkel initially discovered Gnathia marleyi about 10 years ago in the US Virgin Islands, where it is prevalent - so common that the academic assumed for years that the species had been properly described.



But he eventually sent a specimen of the species to a member of his research team, Nico J. Smit of North-West University in South Africa, who confirmed that it had previously been overlooked by taxonomists.



Earlier this week, it was announced that a conservation organisation had named a frog after Prince Charles in recognition of his efforts to help safeguard the world's rainforests.

Feeding time: A Caribbean fish known as the French grunt is infested with gnathiid isopods like the one named after Bob Marley

The rare species of Ecuadorian stream frog has been named Hyloscirtus princecharlesi.



The brown-coloured amphibian with large orange blotches was discovered by Ecuadorian scientist Dr Luis A Coloma four years ago among preserved museum specimens.



Other prominent figures to have species named after them include US President Barack Obama (a lichen), Microsoft founder Bill Gates (a flower fly) and late singer Elvis Presley (a wasp).