Introducing SpongeBob SquarePants — The Fungus

  • Share
  • Read Later
Charles Eshelman / Getty Images

A newly discovered mushroom species has been named after the beloved cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants. It’s official title: spongiforma squarepantsii.

The cartoon seemed like a perfect choice for this fungus that looks more like a sea sponge. It is bright orange (or sometimes purple) and  smells “vaguely fruity or strongly musty,” reports MSNBC.

(MORE: One Nation Under Fungus)

It was discovered on the island of Borneo in Malaysia in 2010 and recently written about in science journal Mycologia. It lives in the rain forest and under trees.

Lucky fungus. Who wouldn’t want to be named after SpongeBob SquarePants?

MORE: The New Danger-Career: Mushroom Hunting