Spider species names honor Jay Chou

A Chinese scientist has named 16 new spider species after songs by popular Mandopop musician Jay Chou.

Mi Xiaoqi, a professor at Tongren University in China's Guizhou province, listed the newly discovered arachnids in a paper published in the academic journal Zoological Research: Diversity and Conservation.

The paper, published in December, has gone viral by web users this year, racking up over 26 million views since Wednesday on Weibo whose users have since dubbed Mi, 44, the "Ultimate Fan."

One of the arachnids - the 3.5-millimeter long Cyclosa or Starry Mood spider - is named after a hit love song from Chou's debut album Jay.

Others are named after similarly beloved tunes, including Rainbow spider, Dragon Fist spider and Excuse spider.

Taiwan-born Chou, renowned for his dramatic romance ballads and pop beats, sold over 30 million records.

"Naming spiders after Jay Chou's songs brings scientific research closer to the public," Mi said.

In 2011, astronomers in Taiwan named an asteroid after the singer.