[SIZE=6]Cymothoa exigua[/SIZE]
Cymothoa exigua
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Cymothoa_exigua_parassita_Lithognathus_mormyrus.JPG/220px-Cymothoa_exigua_parassita_Lithognathus_mormyrus.JPG
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Cymothoa_exigua_%28capovolta%29.JPG/220px-Cymothoa_exigua_%28capovolta%29.JPG
[U]Scientific classification[/U]
Kingdom: [U]Animalia[/U]
Phylum: [U]Arthropoda[/U]
Subphylum: [U]Crustacea[/U]
Class: [U]Malacostraca[/U]
Order: [U]Isopoda[/U]
Family: [U]Cymothoidae[/U]
Genus: [U]Cymothoa[/U]
Species: C. exigua
[U]Binomial name[/U]
Cymothoa exigua
([U]Schiødte[/U] & [U]Meinert[/U], 1884)
Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a [U]parasitic[/U] [U]isopod[/U] of the family [U]Cymothoidae[/U]. This parasite enters fish through the [U]gills[/U], and then attaches itself to the fish’s tongue. The female attaches to the tongue and the male attaches on the gill arches beneath and behind the female. Females are 8–29 millimetres (0.3–1.1 in) long and 4–14 mm (0.16–0.55 in) in maximum width. Males are approximately 7.5–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long and 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) wide.[U][1][/U] The parasite severs the blood vessels in the fish’s tongue, causing the tongue to fall off. It then attaches itself to the stub of what was once its tongue and becomes the fish’s new tongue.[U][2][/U]
[SIZE=5]Behaviour[U]Edit[/U][/SIZE]
C. exigua extracts blood through the claws on its front,[[U]clarification needed[/U]] causing the tongue to [U]atrophy[/U] from lack of blood. The parasite then replaces the fish’s tongue by attaching its own body to the muscles of the tongue stub.[[U]clarification needed[/U]] The fish is able to use the parasite just like a normal tongue. It appears that the parasite does not cause any other damage to the host fish.[U][2][/U] Once C. exigua replaces the tongue, some feed on the host’s blood and many others feed on fish mucus.[[U]clarification needed[/U]] This is the only known case of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ.[U][2][/U] When a host fish dies, C. exigua will detach itself from the tongue stub after some time, leave the fish’s mouth cavity, and can then be seen clinging to its head or body externally. It is not fully known what then happens to the parasite in the wild.
There are many species of Cymothoa,[U][3][/U] but only C. exigua is known to consume and replace its host’s tongue.
to know such animals/parasites exist