In the winter of 2021, the longtime Parrothead finally got his chance when he and a team of researchers found an undiscovered species of marine cryptofauna — tiny ocean organisms — while fishing on Long Key island. This summer, researchers announced its name in the Bulletin of Marine Science journal: Gnathia jimmybuffetti.
Buffett wrote on Twitter — now called X — that the name “has a nice ring to it.”
Sikkel, 61, hopes the three-millimeter-long isopod’s name will help preserve Buffett’s memory.
“I’m a scientist professionally, but I really love the arts, especially music,” Sikkel said. “I grew up as sort of a music junkie … so I really love opportunities to sort of bring the two together.”
Sikkel started listening to Buffett as a teenager in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif. He enjoyed snorkeling at local beaches, and Buffett’s music reminded him of the ocean.
Since then, Sikkel said, he has attended dozens of Buffett’s concerts, including three in Florida in the past three years.
Using lights to attract organisms in shallow water in 2021, Sikkel and other researchers attempted to collect gnathiidae, tiny larvae and parasites. After researchers caught a species they had not seen before, they confirmed via genetic sequencing that it was new.
Researchers said the Gnathia jimmybuffetti is the first new gnathiid discovered in the Florida Keys in 100 years. Gnathia jimmybuffetti is a parasite that is most active at night. Many feed on fish blood and hide in rocks on the ocean floor.
Scientists typically name species based on where they were found or on the species’ unique features, Sikkel said. But Sikkel has no qualms bucking that tradition — he first acknowledged musicians with his work in 2012, when he named a parasite from the U.S. Virgin Islands after Jamaican singer Bob Marley.
Sikkel thinks about his research from the Florida Keys whenever he hears a Buffett song that mentions an island or city there.
“When people from my generation think of the Florida Keys,” Sikkel said, “they automatically think of Jimmy Buffett.”
As Buffett struggled to launch his music career, he visited Key West in November 1971 with singer Jerry Jeff Walker. In 1973, Buffett blossomed into a star after releasing his album “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean.” Buffett’s most popular song, “Margaritaville,” was released in 1977 and was based partly on his experiences in Key West. Sikkel said he’s lately been listening to the 2009 song “Beautiful Swimmers” on repeat.
As Sikkel searches the world for undiscovered species, he has a list of other musicians he wants to honor, including Jerry Garcia, Eddie Van Halen and Henry Kapono.
“Artists, in general, are great at presenting things and exposing people to things because that’s what they do,” Sikkel said. “And scientists aren’t as good at that. But by joining forces with the artists, we can help spread the word about the science and how cool it is.”