The creature is a cestode, a parasitic flatworm found exclusively within the spiral valve of the guitarfish, a ray-like inhabitant of the seabed known locally as the melgacho. To name this new species, Acanthobothrium goleketen, Irigoitía reached beyond biology. He collaborated with the linguist Ana Fernández Garay to find a word from the Tehuelche people, whose language, Aonikenk, fell into functional silence in 2019 with the passing of its last fluent speaker, Dora Manchado.
In the quiet of the University of Buenos Aires, they chose goleketen, the Tehuelche word for good luck. It was a nod to the clover-like morphology of the parasite’s head and a deliberate act of cultural salvage. By anchoring the word to a biological classification, the researchers ensured that a fragment of a vanished tongue would remain etched in the permanent record of global science.
The World Register of Marine Species, managed from Ostend, Belgium, recently selected the discovery as one of the ten most emblematic new species of the year. The recognition arrived at a difficult hour for the Argentine scientific community, as Irigoitía’s team continues their work despite severe budget constraints and the increasing rarity of the host guitarfish, which is now classified as an endangered species.
The identification process required a patient assembly of skills: morphological analysis, genetic sequencing, and the steady hand of a scientific illustrator. For Irigoitía, the work is a fundamental necessity. Understanding these hidden layers of life is the primary requirement for protecting an ecosystem that is currently fraying. In the guts of a threatened fish, he found not just a parasite, but a vessel for a human history that refused to be forgotten.