this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
232 points (90.8% liked)

interestingasfuck

5979 readers
4 users here now

interestingasfuck

founded 1 year ago
 

Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod that severs the blood vessels in a fish's tongue, causing the tongue to fall off. It then attaches itself to the remaining stub of tongue and the parasite itself effectively serves as the fish's new "tongue"

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Those things are so bizarre. They latch onto the fish's mouth, severs the vein to its tongue so the tongue falls off, and the parasite becomes the new tongue. Apparently the fish functions just fine with its parasitic tongue.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

I mean, if the fish didn't survive, the parasite wouldn't get easy meals for life, haha.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Nature is very metal.