Tongue-eating louse [Cymothoa exigua]
Description
Cymothoa exigua, also known as the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod found in the Eastern Pacific. This species enters fish through the gills, and then the male attaches to the gill arches while the female attaches to the fish's tongue. The female louse then extracts blood causing the tongue to atrophy from lack of blood. She replaces the fish's tongue by attaching her own body to the remaining stub of the tongue, becoming the fish's new tongue.
Taxonomy
| Phylum |
Arthropods
Arthropoda
|
|---|---|
| Class |
Crustaceans
Malacostraca
|
| Order |
Isopods
Isopoda
|
| Family |
Cymothoidae
Cymothoidae
|
| Genus |
Cymothoa
Cymothoa
|