10/5/2005: Toothbrush shrimp

Last week we had the awful tongue bug, so maybe it's fair to point out that many parasites are beneficial. In this case, the fish above allows the little shrimp into its mouth, because the shrimp collects and eats leftover crap from around the fish's teeth. The fish gets pearly whites, and the shrimp gets a meal and doesn't get et in return. Seems a fair deal. And it's a beautiful shot due to the colors.

(Don't like this one? I've posted another set of IotD "B" images here.)

Surprisingly nice non-Friday animal IOTD.

The colors are quite striking.

I'll stick with the free brushes I get from the dentist.

Can he play the drums with the fish’s teeth like on The Little Mermaid?
If so I want both of them!

Wow, I sleep with my mouth open, im sure. I should just get one of those to brush my teeth all night. Pimp.

Hey grouch! Welcome to the cellar. Anybody that familiar with a ten year old happy happy Disney animated movie can't really be a grouch--yer jes foolin' right? Regardless, good to have you on board.

An amusing scene in Steel Beach by John Varley is when the AI in charge of a moon colony decides to improve the colony's dental hygene by putting nanobots in their mouths to eat food scraps and leave behind a minty fresh taste.

Thank you BigV!! My name is Grouch because I love Oscar the Grouch.
I have been collecting his memorabilia since I was in elementary school and it’s still growing! Thanks again for the warm welcome!

that's a very cool pic indeed. makes me want to clean up my marine aquarium and get it balanced again.

Quibble: It's not a parasite, in this case, it's a symbiote.

Nature, in all her glory, is really kinda gross.

I like how the shrimp's body appears to be translucent. Almost invisible.

I read in a cookbook once about why the muscles of seafood are often translucent until cooked. Has to do with the structure of the protein, and how it curls up when cooked, blocking the light.

Reminds me of that Far Side cartoon: there's a crocodile on a psychiatrist's couch saying, "Doc? You know those birds that walk around inside a crocodile's mouth eating all the parasites? I been eating those little guys like popcorn."

Anyway, there are fish called wrasses that do this also. They set up a station on a reef and large fish come to have their teeth cleaned. Evolution being what it is, there are also mimic cleaner wrasses, who look just like the real thing. When a big fish swims up and opens its mouth, this guy swims right in, takes a chomp out of his lip or gum, and swims back into his hole right quick

Amazing the things you recall from one Ichthyology class 20 years ago.

what struck me about the fish was the square pupil.

I'll bet occasionally the fish lies to one of those tasty little morsles. I wish the hell that was me & my dentist. That just could be the leverage required for fee negotiation.......

Very crisp and colorful image and I, also was struck by the colors. Never did see any puke or dung. Maybe I lack imagination.