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Image of Tongue-Eating Isopod
Creatures » … » Animal » … » Arthropods » … » Typical Crustaceans » Malacostracans » … » Peracarids » Isopods » … » Tongue Biters » …

Tongue Eating Isopod

Cymothoa exigua Schioedte & Meinert 1884

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  • Image of Cymothoa Fabricius 1793
    Andy Heyward   Flickr Group
    I caught a snapper off the rocks on Rangitoto Island and when I had landed it, this creature crawled out of it's mouth. I happened to have my camera with me - I was nearly gagging watching it.Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. It tends to be 3 to 4 centimetres (1.2 to 1.6 in) long. This parasite enters through the gills, and then attaches itself at the base of the spotted rose snapper's (Lutjanus guttatus) tongue. It extracts blood through the claws on its front, causing the tongue to atrophy from lack of blood. The parasite then replaces the fish's tongue by attaching its own body to the muscles of the tongue stub. The fish is able to use the parasite just like a normal tongue. It appears that the parasite does not cause any other damage to the host fish. Once C. exigua replaces the tongue, some feed on the host's blood and many others feed on fish mucus. This is the only known case of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ. It is currently believed that C. exigua are not harmful to humans unless picked up alive, in which case they can bite.Imagine if Cockroaches crawled into your mouth at night and attached itself to your tongue.www.propartganda.comandy@haumoana.com
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    Debra Baker   iNaturalist
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    natividadm   iNaturalist
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    Kevin Huntley   iNaturalist
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    Debra Baker   iNaturalist
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    natividadm   iNaturalist
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    Kevin Huntley   iNaturalist
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    natividadm   iNaturalist
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    Kevin Huntley   iNaturalist
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    Kevin Huntley   iNaturalist
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    natividadm   iNaturalist
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    natividadm   iNaturalist
  • Image of Cymothoa Fabricius 1793
    Marco Vinci   Wikimedia Commons
    Description: English: Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. The parasite enters fish (here a Sand steenbras, Lithognathus mormyrus) through the gills and then attaches itself to the fish's tongue. Italiano: Isopode marino, endoparassita di pesci Osteitti. Si ancora, tramie uncini, all'interno del cavo orale dell'ospite sostituendosi alla lingua. L'ospite è Lithognathus mormyrus. Svenska: Cymothoa exigua är en fiskparasit i ordningen Isopoda (gråsuggor och tånglöss) bland kräftdjuren. Den suger blod från fiskens tunga, vilken förtvinar och så småningom ersätts av kräftdjuret, även funktionellt. Värddjuret på denna bild är ett exemplar av havsrudefisken Lithognathus mormyrus. Date: 1 September 2013, 00:36:32. Source: Own work. Author: Marco Vinci.
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    Elkin Fricke   Wikimedia Commons
    Description: English: Live Cymothoa exigua, male and female, as cough in Guadeloupe. Date: 10 April 2017. Source: Own work. Author: Elkin Fricke.
  • Image of Cymothoa Fabricius 1793
    Marco Vinci   Wikimedia Commons
    Description: English: Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. This parasite enters fish through the gills, and then attaches itself to the fish's tongue. Italiano: Isopode marino, endoparassita di pesci Osteitti. Si ancora all'interno del cavo orale dell'ospite attraverso gli uncini di cui è provvisto, prendendo la posizione della lingua. L'esemplare nella foto è stato prelevato dall'ospite (Lithognathus mormyrus). Svenska: Cymothoa exigua är en fiskparasit i ordningen Isopoda (gråsuggor och tånglöss) bland kräftdjuren. Den suger blod från fiskens tunga, vilken förtvinar och så småningom ersätts av kräftdjuret, även funktionellt. Date: 28 July 2013, 01:56:03. Source: Own work. Author: Marco Vinci.
  • Image of Cymothoa Fabricius 1793
    Christian Gloor (mostly) underwater photographer|sourceurl=https://flickr.com/photos/76738608@N08/28999213532%7Carchive=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406155137/https://flickr.com/photos/76738608@N08/28999213532%7Creviewdate=2018-10-17 10:40:35|reviewlicense=cc-by-2.0|reviewer=FlickreviewR 2   Wikimedia Commons
    Description: Clark's Anemonefish / Amphiprion clarkii - Cymothoa exigua This small isopod entered the clownfish's mouth through the gills and ate the host's tongue. Ultimately, the isopod completely replaces the tongue of the clownfish and will live there. Although this is terribly gross, the anemonefish's life is not directly threatened by this. Date: 20 August 2016, 12:00. Source: A dentist nightmare. Author: Christian Gloor from Wakatobi Dive Resort, Indonesia. Camera location1° 28′ 53.81″ N, 125° 15′ 08.1″ E View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 1.481615; 125.252251.
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    Cymothoa exigua - 02
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    Marco Vinci   Wikimedia Commons
    Description: English: Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. The parasite enters fish (here on the back of a Sand steenbras, Lithognathus mormyrus) through the gills and then attaches itself to the fish's tongue. Italiano: Isopode marino, endoparassita di pesci Osteitti. Si ancora all'interno del cavo orale dell'ospite attraverso gli uncini di cui è provvisto, prendendo la posizione della lingua. L'esemplare nella foto è nell'atto di evacuare a causa della morte dell'ospite (Lithognathus mormyrus). Svenska: Cymothoa exigua är en fiskparasit i ordningen Isopoda (gråsuggor och tånglöss) bland kräftdjuren. Den suger blod från fiskens tunga, vilken förtvinar och så småningom ersätts av kräftdjuret, även funktionellt. Parasiten på denna bild har lämnat sin värd, ett exemplar av havsrudefisken Lithognathus mormyrus, sedan fisken dött. I allmänhet skadas emellertid inte fisken av parasiten, och verkar inte heller besvärad av dess närvaro. Date: 28 July 2013, 01:52:34. Source: Own work. Author: Marco Vinci.
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    Cymothoa exigua - 01
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    Marco Vinci   Wikimedia Commons
    Description: English: Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. The parasite enters fish (here on the back of a Sand steenbras, Lithognathus mormyrus) through the gills and then attaches itself to the fish's tongue. Italiano: Isopode marino, endoparassita di pesci Osteitti. Si ancora all'interno del cavo orale dell'ospite attraverso gli uncini di cui è provvisto, prendendo la posizione della lingua. L'esemplare nella foto è nell'atto di evacuare a causa della morte dell'ospite (Lithognathus mormyrus). Svenska: Cymothoa exigua är en fiskparasit i ordningen Isopoda (gråsuggor och tånglöss) bland kräftdjuren. Den suger blod från fiskens tunga, vilken förtvinar och så småningom ersätts av kräftdjuret, även funktionellt. Parasiten på denna bild har lämnat sin värd, ett exemplar av havsrudefisken Lithognathus mormyrus, sedan fisken dött. I allmänhet skadas emellertid inte fisken av parasiten, och verkar inte heller besvärad av dess närvaro. Date: 28 July 2013, 01:43:07. Source: Own work. Author: Marco Vinci.
  • Image of Cymothoa Fabricius 1793
    Cymothoa exigua
    cc-by-sa-3.0
    Marco Vinci   Wikimedia Commons
    Description: English: Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. The parasite enters fish (here a Sand steenbras, Lithognathus mormyrus) through the gills and then attaches itself to the fish's tongue. Italiano: Isopode marino, endoparassita di pesci Osteitti. Si ancora, tramie uncini, all'interno del cavo orale dell'ospite sostituendosi alla lingua. L'ospite è Lithognathus mormyrus. Svenska: Cymothoa exigua är en fiskparasit i ordningen Isopoda (gråsuggor och tånglöss) bland kräftdjuren. Den suger blod från fiskens tunga, vilken förtvinar och så småningom ersätts av kräftdjuret, även funktionellt. Värddjuret på denna bild är ett exemplar av havsrudefisken Lithognathus mormyrus. Date: 1 September 2013, 00:35:36. Source: Own work. Author: Marco Vinci.
  • Image of Cymothoa Fabricius 1793
    Description: English: Prosanta Chakrabarty showing a Cymothoa exigua (Louisiana State University, Museum of Natural Science). Date: 6 November 2014, 15:06:26. Source: Own work. Author: Frank Schulenburg.
  • Image of Cymothoa Fabricius 1793
    Cymothoa-xigua-parasite02
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    Description: Parasita encontrado na boca de peixe. Date:. Source: This file is lacking source information. Please edit this file's description and provide a source. Author: This file is lacking author information.
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