Looking very much like something you might catch while lazily fishing on the bays of Kashyyyk, this furry fellow is Iridogorgia chewbacca, named after the galaxy’s most heroic wookiee hero. It lives well beneath the sunlit zone, so little is known about this member of genus Iridogorgia, but we can (reasonably) surmise that when it comes to coral, Iridogorgia chewbacca is the only one who’ll beat you at dejarik and tear your arms off if they lose.
Initially spotted off the waters of Moloka’i in 2006 and the Mariana Trench in 2016, the shaggy coral is characterized by its long, hairy branches and upright appearance. Upon discovery, scientists immediately thought the species—with its shiny exterior and fur-like silhouette—bore a striking similarity to the famed Wookiee. They subsequently dubbed it Iridogorgia chewbacca—and the resemblance is uncanny.
University of Hawai’i professor emeritus Les Watling and his colleagues officially catalogued the fuzzy coral this September in the journal ZootaxaOpens in a new tab. The species belongs to the genus Iridogorgia. Its flexible, hair-like branches can grow up to 15 inches long, with the specimen itself found to grow anywhere from 20 inches to four feet long.
