CT scan shows parasite of ‘tongue-eating lice’ instead of the tongue of a fish

Scientists studying a species of ray-finned fish made a surprising discovery – a parasite had replaced the tongue of its host.

An x-ray of the skull of the wrasses showed a small lobster in its mouth feasting on fluid in the muscle organ.

The small isopod, also called ‘fish lice’ or ‘tongue-eating lice’, paralyzes the fish’s tongue and sucks up nutrients until it disappears.

The parasite eventually replaces the organ, attaches itself to the site and simply leaves the underlying bone.

An x-ray of the skull of the wrasses showed a small lobster in the mouth that had been sucking from fluid from the muscle organ to

The isopod belongs to the genus Cymthoa and was discovered in a fish drawn from Australian waters.

Kory Evans, an assistant professor in the Department of BioSciences at Rice University in Houston, Texas, mocked the little creature while performing a CT scan on a wrasses skull.

‘Found this morning an isopod (pear) with tongue food in one of our wrasse scans while digitizing. These parasites attach themselves to the tongues of fish and effectively become the new tongue … terrible, ‘Evans shared in a tweet regarding the discovery.

Detecting one of these terrible parasites is very rare, but experts know that it attaches itself to the mouth of its host and feeds on the tongue.

The small isopod, also called ‘fish lice’ or ‘tongue lice’, paralyzes the fish’s tongue and absorbs nutrients until it disappears.

It first releases anti-coagulants to prevent the fish’s blood from clotting and attaches to organ to extract blood and mucus from it.

The tongue eventually disappears and the isopod replaces it – and acts as the tongue of the fish.

‘Although the isopod seems scary (in fact, it was the inspiration behind the 2012 horror film The Bay), the fish is not much harmed by the removal of its tongue,’ Evans shared in a blog post.

‘The body of the isopod functions as a functional tongue, and feeds on sludge that is secreted by the fish. This is actually the only parasitic animal known to replace any of its host organs. ‘

The tongue eventually disappears and the isopod replaces it – and acts as the tongue of the fish. Pictured is an example of the parasite in a fish’s mouth

There are 380 different known species of isopoies with tongue food, most of which usually have a specific fish species on which they invade and feast.

Although not much is known about the life cycle of these creatures, experts have found evidence that females can mate with male isopods that live in the fish’s crying chamber.

Another underwater parasite called ‘vampire fish’ was found in a freshwater lake in Vermont, hundreds of miles away from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.

The sea lampreys are described as a ‘species of consultation’ by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife, and survive by parasitizing other fish, attaching to their bodies and sucking out blood and other body fluids for sustenance.

Another underwater parasite called ‘vampire fish’ was found in a freshwater lake in Vermont, hundreds of miles away from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.

The sea lampreys are described as a ‘species of consultation’ by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife, and survive by parasitizing other fish, attaching them to their bodies and sucking out blood and other body fluids for sustainability.

State officials said they found the most endangered population of sea lamprey in Lake Champlain near the Canadian border.

The younger larval lampreys can spend up to five years in a sedentary state, buried under the sandy river bottom, which gradually filters out small food particles from the water.

Once they are adults, the stream swims back to the Atlantic Ocean, where they spend most of their lives with the blood of other fish.

In the past, sea urchins have had a devastating effect on freshwater fish populations, with one being able to kill an average of 40 pounds of fish in a year.