Two San Diego County residents and two local schools are in the running to name two new species of deep-sea worms discovered by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Their submissions were chosen as finalists in the Name a Species contest being held through Birch Aquarium. One worm is being named by the public at large and another by a K-12 school. The public submitted votes, and the chosen names were revealed during a special dive show yesterday at Birch Aquarium (World Ocean Day, June 8). That name will become the official scientific name of the species. Brian Witkin, 25, from San Marcos and Laura McIntyre, 19, from San Diego were finalists to name a deep-sea worm that belongs to the genus Vrijenhoekia. Clairemont High School’s ASB and two first-grade classrooms at The Children’s School in La Jolla were in the running to name a deep-sea worm belonging to the genus Podarkeopsis. Scientists from the Scripps Marine Invertebrate Phylogenetics Lab, in association with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, discovered the worms living upon whale carcasses that had fallen to the ocean floor offMonterey. The worms, which measure only a few centimeters in length, are part of the family Hesionidae. Nearly 170 submissions were received from two dozen states. Participants were asked to follow proper naming conventions as detailed in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, as well as provide a description of how they came up with their suggestion. Scientists from the Scripps Marine Invertebrate Phylogenetics Lab selected the finalists: Worm No. 1: Vrijenhoekia (submitted by the public at large) • Vrijenhoekia kaiuli: Submitted by Witkin, “kai uli” means “deep sea” in Hawaiian. • Vrijenhoekia ketea: Submitted by McIntyre, “ketea” is plural for sea monsters and is also the original root for whale. • Vrijenhoekia ahabi: Submitted by Andy Fyfe of Massachusetts, “ahabi” is a reference to Herman Melville’s Captain Ahab, because both he and this species of worm will go to the ends of the earth to get a whale. Worm No. 2: Podarkeopsis (submitted by K-12 schools): • Podarkeopsis teucros: Submitted by Clairemont High School, “teucros” is the name of the son of Hesione, the beautiful princess of Troy that the group Hesionidae are named after and this new worm belongs to. • Podarkeopsis vathivios: Submitted by first-graders (Room 3) at The Children’s School in La Jolla, “vathivios” is the Greek translation of “deep water inhabitant.” • Podarkeopsis falenothiras: Submitted by first-graders (Room 2) at The Children’s School in La Jolla, “falenothiras” is the Greek translation of “whale hunter.”