Horrifying ‘vampire’ parasite pretends to be fish’s TONGUE – but only after eating it first
GRUESOME photos of a blood-thirsty parasite living in the mouth of a fish having devoured its host’s tongue have surfaced online.
Posted to social media by a US scientist this week, the X-ray scans show an isopod, also known as tongue-eating louse, nestled in the skull of a wrasse.
The 4cm-long “vampire” crustacean invades its host through the gills and attaches to the inside of the mouth using its strong claws.
It then drinks blood from the tongue, eventually draining so much of it that the organ dies, falls off and is replaced by the burgeoning parasite.
“I found a tongue-eating isopod in one of our wrasse scans this morning while digitising it,” Rice University fish scientist Dr Kory Evans said.
“These parasites attach themselves to the tongues of fishes and effectively become the new tongue…horrifying”, he wrote on Twitter on Monday.
The tongue-eating louse is native to the Gulf of California, as well as parts of the Atlantic.
It’s not thought to be dangerous to humans, although the critter can bite if picked up alive.
Surprisingly, the parasite’s grisly feeding practice does not kill its host. Instead, the fish begins to use louse as a pseudo-tongue.
Once the real tongue is drained of its blood, the louse remains there for the rest of its days, feeding off mucus and leftover blood around the mouth.
Twitter users reacted in horror and wonderment to Dr Evans’ scans.
“Oh, cool. A new nightmare for our Monday morning,” one user groaned.
“This is VERY cool,” another wrote. “I don’t want to say it looks cute inside the mouth … but they look like they are doing a cute little photo shoot together.”
Dr Evans replied: “I think this is the most tasteful tongue parasite photo on the internet”.
The tongue-eating louse is far from the only gruesome parasite our planet had to offer.
One parasitic flatworm found in Taiwan invades the eyes of snails, turning the appendages into flashing stalks that resemble disco balls.
The green-banded broodsac – also known as leucochloridium paradoxum – uses the tactic to attract nearby birds.
Once the birds eat the snail, the parasite spreads to other victims through the avian’s poo.
What are the most poisonous animals in the world?
Here are seven of the most deadly creatures...
- The box jellyfish is widely regarded to be the most posionous animal in the world and contians a toxin that can cause heart attacks
- Cobras, typically found in the jungles of India and China, can spit a venom which can result in death in a very short space of time and just 7ml of their venom is enough to kill 20 humans
- The marbled cone snail is a sea creature that can release venom so toxic it can result in vision loss, respiratory failure, muscle paralysis and eventually death and, to make things worse, there is no anti-venom available
- Posion dart frogs are small and brightly coloured but have glands containing a toxin that blocks nerve signals to muscles, causing paralysis and death
- Puffer fish are considered to be a dangerous delicacy because some of their anatomy contains a hazardous toxin which, if ingested in a large quantity, can cause convulsions, paralysis, cardiac arrhythmia, and ultimately death
- The Brazillian wandering spider, also known as the ‘banana spider’, has venom that is so high in serotonin it can paralyse and kill
- Death stalker scorpions have a fitting name as enough venom from one can cause a lot of pain and respiratory failure
Most read in Science
In other news, the world’s oldest freshwater fish lived to 112 years, and was swimming back when the Titanic sank.
Fish feel pain in a “strikingly similar way to humans”, according to scientists.
And, Nasa gave spiders drugs– here’s how their webs changed when high on marijuana, caffeine and LSD.
What do you think of the strange tongue parasite? Let us know in the comments!
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk