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Tongue-eating bug!

lokiju

lokiju

Lifer
A gross creature which gobbles up a fish's tongue and then replaces it with its own body has been found in Britain for the first time.

The bug - which has the scientific name cymothoa exigua - was discovered inside the mouth of a red snapper bought from a London fishmonger.

The 3.5cm creature had grabbed onto the fish's tongue and slowly ate away at it until only a stub was left.

It then latched onto the stub and became the fish's "replacement tongue".


Scientists are very excited by the find.

Dr Jim Brock of the Horniman Museum in south London told Metro newspaper: "I have not seen this species in all my 13 years at the museum so it's a remarkable find."

The bugs are usually found off the coast of California, so it's possible the fish was imported to the UK.

But don't be too freaked out - scientists say the creature does not pose any threat to humans and only attaches itself to fish tongues.

Link to story with pics 🙁
 
That's disgusting. I'm not familiar with the operation of a fishes tounge, but I'd assume it's similar to a human's. That being said, how does the bug know to move so that the fish may swallow food? Does the bug just snatch up some of the food itself or eat away at the tounge indefinately? *shudders*

I would say this is just beyond my belief, but it's on BBC's site...so I assume it has factual basis behind it.

That's just weird
 
Originally posted by: Wallydraigle
Originally posted by: Ricemarine
Hey, least it ain't us being invaded.
Click to expand...


They were only using the fish as a test run. I, for one, welcome our new tongue-gobbling overlords.
Click to expand...

Hopefully it's only the tongue and not something lower. :Q
 
I don't know which is worse though, this or that fish that swims up your pee hole if you pee in some river in south America IIRC.

:shocked:
 
Originally posted by: lokiju
I don't know which is worse though, this or that fish that swims up your pee hole if you pee in some river in south America IIRC.

:shocked:
Click to expand...

:Q aahhh what kind of bug is that?
 
---Body Snatcher---
"Sacculina, a type of barnacle, begins its life in the ocean as a free-swimming larva. When the female locates a crab, however, she actually discards most of her own body, leaving a gelatinous blob that enters the crab and begins to grow. It sprouts rootlike tendrils which spread through the crab like a plant, even wrapping around its eyes. Eventually it forms a small hole on the crab's back, through which male Sacculina can enter and permanently join the female. The crab stops growing and stops mating, devoting all of its energy into caring for the parasite's millions of eggs and larvae as if they were its own. Male crab hosts are altered by the parasite to think and act like females, even changing physically to better carry the barnacle's young."

Who said sex changes weren't natural?
 
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