Comment on Nightmare fuel
ggtdbz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 days ago
A foundational memory for me was a fish dissection in middle school in which we respectfully sliced the innards of one of these bad boys only to find this exact parasite inside. All the other groups just had a fish to dissect, but we also took a supercurricular lab detour to dissect that other thing too, as my classmates from other groups gathered around with real curiosity.
Frankly haven’t thought much of it in years. Would be cool to know what this is actually called.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymothoa_exigua
This is an example of the type of tongue-replacing creature you found, not necessarily the same species.
So that’s a fun twofer: you know a possible name for what you saw, and you know that a parasite replacing a host’s organ is one of nature’s fun survival strategies!
Seems like a similar species is common where I am.
Horrifying. Thanks for the link, although to be honest I probably could have googled “fish tongue parasite isopod” at some point in the past decade+.
Interesting that the Wikipedia page has photos that wouldn’t have rang the bell for me, the one I remember was exactly like the one in the post.
That sounds fascinating woah
belated_frog_pants@beehaw.org 3 days ago
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymothoa_exigua
Spacehooks@reddthat.com 2 days ago
That was a good read thanks mate. Now all I can think of is a chest buster coming out of a chest buster and then another chest buster comes out of that one and cant stop laughing at the absurdity of knowing Xzibit did this. Image
ggtdbz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratothoa_oestroides
Geographically given where I am, it’s probably this one
flora_explora@beehaw.org 3 days ago
Oh wow, the first one sounds mean. Never heard of an isopod parasite (but I’d now guess there are many more aquatic ones?). And inducing necrosis of the tongue to be the new fish’s organ, ouch :O
Dasus@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Image
I did not expect this.
Also in the archipelago, which I love close to. Usually there sorts of stories are from Australia.