Bite Your Tongue, It'll Bite Back (If you're a fish)
I stumbled upon this today while browsing the good ol' intertubes.
Apparently, there's a parasitic isopod out there that's burrowing into fish, eating their tongues, and replacing the tongues with themselves. After doing a little more research, I found that the parasites don't actually eat the tongue. The creature latches on to the fish-tongue's base and leeches blood from it. As the creature grows, less blood makes is able to enter the tongue, and the tongue atrophies. The isopod then takes the tongue's place and consumes blood and mucus from the host's mouth. Disgusting.
BBC article
Apparently, there's a parasitic isopod out there that's burrowing into fish, eating their tongues, and replacing the tongues with themselves. After doing a little more research, I found that the parasites don't actually eat the tongue. The creature latches on to the fish-tongue's base and leeches blood from it. As the creature grows, less blood makes is able to enter the tongue, and the tongue atrophies. The isopod then takes the tongue's place and consumes blood and mucus from the host's mouth. Disgusting.
BBC article
Comment
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Comment by Brett Gilpin on September 27, 2009 at 8:15pm - In my opinion, this is kind of cool. Yes, it is disgusting, but has an awe factor. It is strange about, why does it go for the tongue first? And that is a huge parasite for how big the fish is.
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Comment by ricky maddox on September 18, 2009 at 9:47am - Wow man that is definitely kinda creepy lol. I wonder does it only attach to fish, and if so is it only specific fish or just any it can get inside?
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Comment by Sean Nash on September 12, 2009 at 7:14pm -
Thanks a ton for posting this........ yes, yes... parasites certainly incite the "ick" factor embedded within us, don't they?
Wow. That is certainly one sick little example of a creature very adapted to a particular situation.
Funny how we personify such things isn't it?
Ugh.
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tropical
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Last Monday's class cleared up how the atolls sank, the coral is not the major cause of their sinking, it is the weight of the magma that comes out of the volcano. I was confused about how the coral weighed this much, but this cleared it up for me.
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Awesome video. I forgot all about that.
;)
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Absolutely amazing!
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I'm afraid I disagree, Carsen. Spongebob is a great educational tool. (Here's the Goo Lagoon for future reference...) I definitely learned that sponges were living creatures. =D
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