Using its front claws, C. exigua severs the blood vessels in the fish's tongue, causing the tongue to necrose from lack of blood. The parasite then replaces the fish's tongue by attaching its own body to the muscles of the tongue stub. The parasite apparently does not cause much other damage to the host fish, but Lanzing and O'Connor (1975) reported that infested fish with two or more of the parasites are usually underweight. Once C. exigua replaces the tongue, some feed … WebOct 28, 2024 · The tongue-eating parasite was found living in the mouth of an Atlantic croaker at a state park on the Texas Coast. Galveston Island State Park. Last week’s discovery of a tongue-eating louse inside an Atlantic croaker caught at Galveston State Park is just one example of the creepy little critters that are hidden from plain view in …
Has One Parasite Accomplished What No Other Has? - The Atlantic
WebMar 13, 2024 · SMIT: The amazing thing about this is that the fish doesn't really then have a choice, because the parasite function as the tongue. So it needs the parasite to continue to be able to eat and all ... WebOct 23, 2024 · "This parasite detaches the fish's tongue, attaches itself to the fish's mouth, and becomes its tongue," the wildlife agency said, expounding on a photo showing the isopod curled inside a... flip anthology
Fish caught with live, tongue-eating parasite in its mouth
WebAug 12, 2024 · The isopods parasitize fish through their gills, and then grow to be tongue-size as they consume their hosts' tongues. (Image credit: Courtesy of Kory Evans, Rice University) Evans encountered... WebAug 13, 2024 · 1 of 5. Grusome photos of a blood-thirsty parasite living in the mouth of a fish having devoured its host’s tongue have surfaced online. Posted to social media by a scientist this week, the X ... Claim: A photograph shared to social media showed a parasitic organism that attaches to a fish's tongue and spends the rest of its life as a pseudo tongue while feeding off its host\u2024s blood. flipany food service