Blue Planet: Plankton species named after Sir David Attenborough's BBC series

'I'm not sure about the likeness but it's lovely… they're stunning, they're beautiful,' says broadcaster

Sir David Attenborough has heaped praise on the fact a species of plankton has been named in honour of the BBC’s Blue Planet series.

The beloved nature broadcaster said it was a “great compliment” for the wildly popular nature documentary series, which he narrated.

The tiny plant-like organism, described as part of “the beating heart” of the oceans, is recognised as an integral component of the marine ecosystem.

Scientists at University College London (UCL) gave the honour to Sir David and the documentary team for the series which was dubbed "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans".

It is thought to be the first time a species has been named after a TV show.

The plankton, which is a single-celled algae seven times thinner than a human hair, was collected in the South Atlantic but can be located across the oceans of the world.

Despite just living for a few days it generates shapes of astonishing intricacy and beauty.

During his trip to UCL to open the newly refurbished Earth Science department, Sir David looked at microscope photographs of the plankton and quipped: "I'm not sure about the likeness but it's lovely… they're stunning, they're beautiful."

The plankton is named Syracosphaera azureaplaneta – the latter being Latin for “blue planet”.

"If you said that plankton, the phytoplankton, the green oxygen-producing plankton in the oceans is more important to our atmosphere than the whole of the rainforest, which I think is true, people would be astonished,” he added.

"They are an essential element in the whole cycle of oxygen production and carbon dioxide and all the rest of it, and you mess about with this sort of thing and the echoes and the reverberations and the consequences extend throughout the atmosphere”.

Professor Lars Stixrude, Head of UCL Earth Sciences, said: “We have a real heritage in describing plankton and being at the forefront of using these discoveries to map the impact of climate change and health of our oceans over millions of years.”

He added: “It is therefore fitting that we are naming our latest discovery, Syracosphaera azureaplaneta, after Blue Planet as Sir David officially opens the newly refurbished Kathleen Lonsdale Building at UCL which fully accommodates our researchers and students from our Earth Sciences department for the first time.”

This is by no means the first species which has been named in connection with the national treasure and presenter - including a wild flower called The Attenborough’s hawkweed, a species of frog which lives high in the Andes Mountains of South America, a rare tropical butterfly, a flightless Indonesian weevil, and an armoured prehistoric fish whose fossil was found in Western Australia.