Taxonomic immortality can take many forms. For Prof Louis du Preez of North-West University (NWU), it comes with a twist of humour and a splash of irony: a newly discovered parasite, Latergator louisdupreezi, now bears his name.

The organism, identified by American researchers, belongs to a group of ocular parasites that inhabit the eyes of freshwater turtles and the hippopotamus. Prof du Preez knows this family well, perhaps too well. “I did my postgraduate studies on this group of parasites,” he says. “I’ve been searching for a parasite on the eye of a crocodilian for 30 years. I always suspected that one day it would be found on the eye of a crocodile.”

His quest was nothing if not thorough. “I’ve personally examined about 20 crocodiles, whether dissected or butchered on crocodile farms, looking for this parasite,” he recalls. The search extended beyond Africa. “In the USA, I was part of a team that examined 105 alligators following an annual alligator hunt to control the numbers, to see if we could find this parasite, but we couldn’t find any.”

The breakthrough came elsewhere. A team in the United States finally found the elusive creature, lodged, as suspected, on the eye of an alligator. In recognition of his decades-long pursuit, they named the species after him. “We always suspected they would be found on the eye of an alligator. So I feel very honoured by this. But I think the public might sympathise with me for this honour,” he says with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

Naming species after scientists is a long-standing tradition in biology, both as a mark of respect and, occasionally, gentle mischief. In Prof du Preez’s case, Latergator louisdupreezi is both a tribute to a lifetime spent studying the wriggling, often overlooked creatures that make their living in or on other animals, and a wink at the peculiar intimacy between parasite and parasitologist.

For Prof du Preez, the find is a reminder of science’s patient grind and the serendipity that occasionally rewards it. For the rest of us, it is an insight into the strange corners of zoology where a decades-long search can end, not in a cure or a grand theory, but in a microscopic squatter with an illustrious new name.

*This is not the first time a new species has been named after Prof du Preez. In 2023, he was honoured by having a newly discovered Malagasy frog species named after him. The honour was bestowed by a group of German scientists from the University of Braunschweig, Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, and the Zoological Museum in München, in recognition of Prof du Preez’s substantial contributions to understanding the flatworm parasites of Malagasy anurans. The new species is now formally named and described as Blommersia dupreezi.