Cymothoa exigua Replaces Fish Tongues After Eating Them, One of About 100 Mouth-Attaching Isopods
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 3
Cymothoa exigua Replaces Fish Tongues After Eating Them, One of About 100 Mouth-Attaching Isopods
1 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 3
Summary
Cymothoa exigua enters a fish through the gills, drains the tongue’s blood supply over weeks, then clamps onto the remaining bone and serves as a working stand-in.
The parasite can do that because a fish tongue is largely a hard bony pad, not a muscular organ like a human tongue, letting the host keep eating, breathing and swimming.
Researchers call it the only known case of an animal destroying a host organ and functionally replacing it, though some biologists argue the bony base usually remains and the swap is only partial.
The isopod lives mainly in the Gulf of California and nearby eastern Pacific waters, often in snappers, and belongs to a broader group of roughly 100 mouth-attaching cymothoid species worldwide.