9/28/2005: Tongue-eating parasite

Shame on the BBC for its painfully small images.

Anyway, Mother Nature is a BITCH. One of the things she really goes gross on is parasites. I hate parasites but this one must be the worst.



This bug sucks the blood out of the tongue of a particular fish, until the tongue withers and dies and the bug actually replaces it. The bug attaches itself to the remaining stub and just sits there and gets a portion of everything the fish consumes.

Ew, foul!

Works just like credit cards.

Ew, foul! Quotha!

(who says UG is good for nothing?)

Reminds me of teenagers...

So wait, did the host-fish eat at Taco Bell?

Fish need the IRS too.

sometimes i think my tongue might be controlled by someone (something?) else, but let's not talk about that.

If it would render one speechless I'd plant on in my girlfriend's mouth tonight. Maybe it could skim enough food to create a reduction in weight, also.

Thrakorzog....

(I can never find the appropriate picture...)

Wonder if these fish French kiss - if so, do the two parasites also get into some tonsil-tickling too? Maybe the tongue parasites have tongue parasites of their own in their mouths as well, who have parasites inside their's and so on and so on.....

Oh, well, just a thought....

Uh....lay off that French wine for a bit.

Well, if that sucker ever tried that with me, I've got 10 bottles of hot sauce and 5 cans of chili waiting for him. After that, I'd dangle an antacid just out of reach and see if he jumps.

Awwww dude! I had a mouthful of spaghetti as I opened this page!

Haha I should really read the thread titles thoroughly :p

that poor fish looks like more than just its tounge has decayed.. the entire side of his face looks to be rotting away..

or its just a really ugly fish.

I wonder if its painful or just like a mossie bite with natural anesthetics?

Anyone else wonder how this symbiotic relationship first started? How does the bug get into the mouth of this one fish? How does it reproduce? And the article doesn't come out an say how the two share food. Does the fish eat the food, and the bug "shares" it by continuing to suck the blood out of the tongue stump? Or does the bug go from being a blood sucker to being a food chewer? If it's a bug, like an insect, is this its adult form, or larval? Or is it a crustacean?

So many questions...

I imagine it started something like this:



Successful symbiotic relationships involve a benefit for both parties. I can see the upside for the tongue biter, but for the other fish? I'm not so sure.

Just checked. My intuition was not correct.

Cool! Thanks, Bruce.