Another picture of the tongue-replacing parasite

Here's a better photo of the

Cymothoa exigua, a crustacean, is the only known parasite that effectively replaces a body organ. It makes its home in the mouth of a fish, where it drains blood from the tongue until it withers and dies. It attaches itself to the remaining stub and the fish is actually able to utilize it as a replacement tongue to draw in and manipulate food, which the parasite shares.

Reader comment: Mark McGrouther, Fish Collection Manager, Australian Museum says: "I enjoyed the Boing-Boing Tongue-eating bug entry.  I'm a little late, but you might be interested to add a link to the Australian Museum page, which shows some interesting pics of these little blighters." I like the photo with two tongue-eating bugs in one fish's mouth!

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:24:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments