There is something that befalls the creatures of the sea and the depths with extreme difficulty and suffering, and the end of these creatures is often death What you see in front of you in the picture is a parasitic animal that cuts off the fish’s tongue and sits in place of the tongue, eating and drinking before the fish itself and sharing its food and everything else. Its name is Cymothoa exigua Or the tongue-eating louse, it is called an isopod parasite from the Cymothoidae family that enters fish through the gills. But there is a difference between the male and female of this parasite..
If the parasite is female, it will replace the tongue and remain inside the mouth itself, and if the parasite is male, it will attach to the gills or behind the female because the reproduction process takes place inside the fish’s mouth.
It is just a parasite that, in its normal size, is so small that it eats the fish's tongue, places itself in the place of the tongue, and shares its food with it until the end of its life.
Sometimes it reaches very large sizes because this type may suffer from inflation
This condition occurs to some deep-sea creatures, especially crustaceans and isopods, and this condition is called Deep Sea Gigantism.
Notice the size...
Fortunately for us, these parasites cannot and cannot be transmitted to humans, but with this size and shape, they are the stuff of nightmares.
However, there are those who eat this thing specifically and it is a very popular dish in some Asian countries
Infection occurs through polluted water. For example, if an egg enters the fish’s mouth and gets stuck and then hatches inside the mouth, the parasite will live its entire life inside the mouth until its death or the death of the fish itself.
0 Comments