Adlafia G. Moser, H. Lange-Bertalot & D. Metzeltin 1998 (diatom) for the Association des Diatomistes de Langue Française (A.D.La.F.)

Afipia (bacterium) after AFIP: Armed Force Institute of Pathology.

Afropolonia tgifi Goff, 1983 (chigger) from "Thank God it's Friday"

Atalodera ucri (nematode) for University of California, Riverside.

Agra catie Erwin, 2002 (carabid) for Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza, a forestry school at Turrialba.

Atelopus farci Lynch (toad) Named after FARC, the Colombian guerilla army, which used to be active in the toad's habitat. If the army had not taken shelter there, the region probably would have been devastated, and the toads would remain unknown to science.

Bacillus safensis Venkateswaran, 2004 This bacillus has evolved to survive on spacecraft surfaces in JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility (whence its name). It is highly resistant to gamma and UV radiation and presumably draws energy from ions of trace metals like aluminum and titanium. It is almost certainly living aboard the Mars rovers and may survive as spores for millions of years.

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Distaso 1912) Castellani and Chalmers 1919 (gut bacterium) from the Greek letters theta, iota, omicron; I do not know why those three letters.

Cedecea (bacterium) after CDC: Centers for Disease Control.

Chromidotilapia mrac Lamboj, 2002 (cichlid) after Muséé Royal de l'Afrique Centrale.

Csiro Medvedev & Lawrence, 1984 (tenebrionid) after Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia.

Desemzia (bacterium) after DSMZ: Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen.

Drinker nisti Bakker et al., 1990 (ornithopod dinosaur) after the National Institute of Standards and Technology (of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce). "It's the only dinosaur named after an arm of the federal government. Someday I'm going to name one after the I.R.S." - Robert Bakker.

Egatochoerus (oldest named peccary) from EGAT, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (and choer, young pig).

Eurycea sosorum Chippindale, Price, Hillis, 1993 (Barton Springs salamander) The salamander has a very small range. "The species is named in honor of the citizens of Austin, Texas, whose efforts to protect the quality of Barton Springs resulted in the passage of a citizen's aquifer-protection initiative in 1992. This initiative is known locally as the SOS (Save Our Springs) Ordinance, and its supporters as SOSers. The specific name sosorum is the plural mixed-gender genitive form of the acronym SOS." [Herpetologica 49:248-259]

Fubarichthys (fossil fish) Usually found with its head disarticulated, or fubar (F*cked Up Beyond All Recognition).

Geocenamus (nematode) "Geographical Center of North America"

Helacyton Van Valen & Maiorana, 1991 (HeLa cell culture). HeLa is a cell culture derived from a cervical cancer of Henrietta Lacks, hence the name. ("Hela" was preoccupied by a crustacean.) It is described as a new species because it is widespread and feral. By some systematics conventions, it is a unicellular species of human. [Evolutionary Theory 10: 71]

Heterodera mani (nematode) for Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland.

Inpaichthys Géry & Junk, 1977 (tetra) Named for INPA, the Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia. Also: Crenicichla inpa Ploeg, 1991 (cichlid) and Aguarunichthys inpai Zuanon, Rapp Py-Daniel & Jegu, 1993 (siluroid fish), Bryconops inpai Knoppel et al., 1968 (charaoid fish), and Phytocerum inpa Costa et al., 2003 (beetle) [Syst. Entomol 28: 375]

Lasioglossum gattaca Danforth & Wcislo, 1999 (halticid bee) Referring to the genetic code, whose bases abbreviated A, T, C, and G, and no doubt influenced by the 1997 sci-fi movie "Gattaca." [Annals of ESA 92: 624]

Macrocarpaea gattaca J.R. Grant (gentian)

Maelestes gobiensis Wible et al. 2007. (Late Cretaceous placental mammal) "Mae" is the acronym for Mongolian Academy of Sciences-American Museum of Natural History Expeditions.

Melanotaenia angfa (rainbowfish) in honour of the Australia New Guinea Fishes Association.

Meloidogyne naasi (nematode) for National Agricultural Advisory Service.

Natalichthys ori Winterbottom, 1980 (fish) for the Oceanographic Research Institute, Durban, South Africa.

Natalichthys sam Winterbottom, 1980 (fish) Named for S.A.M., the South African Museum, where the specimen was found.

Pachyplichas jagmi Millener 1988 (New Zealand stout-legged wren, now extinct). After the initials of palaeontologist John A. Grant-Mackie.

Pangolinisis cia Alderslade, 1998 (gorgonian) Found attached to an Australian submarine phone cable, although perhaps not listening in as one might expect from the American C.I.A.

Physalaemus enesefae Heatwole, Solano & Heatwole, 1965 (leptodactylid frog) Named after NSF (National Science Foundation).

Pygopleurus rufovillescens undofi Keith, 2001 (beetle) named after the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. Found on part of the Golan Hights controlled by UN soldiers.

Rusichthys Winterbottom, 1979 (fish) Named for the collection at the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology (now the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity); "R.U.S.I." (Rhodes University Smith Institute) prefixes all specimen catalog numbers. Mimoblennius rusi Springer & Spreitzer, 1978 (rusi blenny) gets its name from the same source.

Sio (deep-sea fish) for Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

Tanganicodus irsacae (cichlid) for IRSAC, the Central African Science Research Institute.

Taymyroceras niiga Bodylevski, 1958 (Jurassic cephalopod) after Nauchno Issledovatelski Institut Geologii Arctiki (Scientific Institute of the Arctic Geology); published in the transactions of the same institute.

Thomasomys apeco Leo & Gardner, 1993 (Apeco Oldfield mouse) APECO is an acronym for Asociacion Peruana para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza. [Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 106: 417-428.]

Tianchiasaurus nedegoapeferkima Dong & Holden, 1992 (ankylosaurid dinosaur) After Jurassic Park stars "Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sir Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Wayne Knight, Ariana Richards, & Joseph Mazzello". (The genus is named after Lake Tian Chi.) The name was proposed by Steven Speilberg, who donated money for Chinese dinosaur research. The genus was originally named Jurassosaurus before it was formally described.

Tomocichla asfraci Allgayer, 2002 (cichlid) For ASsociation FRAnçaise des CIchlidophiles.

Trichogramma esalqueanum Querino & Zucchi, 2003 (wasp) For Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz".

Trombicula fujigmo Philip & Fuller, 1950 (chigger) After WWII slang--"F*ck you, Jack, I got my orders".

Vegavis iaai Clarke et al. 2005 (Cretaceous bird) Named for the Argentine Antarctica Institute (IAA). [Nature 433: 305]

Uladendron codesuri Marcano-Berti (tree, Malvaceae) ULA = Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela; CODESUR = Comisión para el Desarrollo del Sur (de Venezuela).

Vagabundia sci Valdecasas, 2008 (water mite) Named for the Science Citation Index (SCI), and using the etymology as an opportunity to editorialize: "Despite statements to the contrary that SCI is not adequate to evaluate taxonomic production (Krell 2000), it is used routinely to evaluate taxonomists and prioritize research grant proposals. As with everything in life, SCI had a beginning and will have an end. Before it becomes history, I dedicate this species to this sociological tool that has done more harm than good to taxonomic work and the basic study of biodiversity. Young biologists avoid the ‘taxonomic trap’ or becoming taxonomic specialists (Agnarsson & Kuntner 2007) due to the low citation rate of strictly discovery-oriented and interpretative taxonomic publications. Lack of recognition of the value of these publications, makes it difficult for authors to obtain grants or stable professional positions." [Zootaxa 1820: 44]

Verma ansp Böhlke, 1968 (now Apterichtus ansp) (eel) Indicated to be an arbitrary combination of letters, but actually the acronym for Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, where the author worked.

Vnigriceras Saveliev, 1973 (Cretaceous cephalopod) Named after Vserossijskij Neftjanoy Nauchno-Isdledovatelskij Geologorazvedochnyi Institut (All-Russian Oil Scientific and Geological Survey Institute, in Leningrad), abridged to VNIGRI in Russian. Saveliev also named Myophorella vnigri 1960 (Jurassic bivalve) and Sonneratia (Eosonneratia) vnigri, 1973 (Cretaceous cephalopod)

Waddlia (bacterium) after WADDL: Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.