Heh...when i saw that I just assumed it was a Japanese or Korean guy to have discovered and named it. Guess not. Color me prejudiced.
I suppose to goes to show what humongous nerds scientists really are. Not even I would name one of my major life achievements after freaking Sonic. Maybe Irenicus.
But I may not be entirely off the mark:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikachurin