‘Unique and important’: Tongue-biting louse is wonderfully gruesome
The inventive parasite Cymothoa exigua can survive for years by taking over a fish’s tongue and keeping its host alive
In the waters of the east Pacific lives a creature so strange and unsettling it has inspired a horror film called The Bay in which mutant parasites eat people’s tongues and take control of their minds.
Welcome to the world of the tongue-biting louse Cymothoa exigua, which has made it to the shortlist of Guardian’s invertebrate of the year competition and whose life cycle is stranger than fiction. South African Russell Yong, who nominated it for the competition, says: “A lot of people find these isopods disgusting but, like all parasites, theirs is a unique and important niche in the world, and with their interesting biology, sexual politics and iconic status, they’d be a great candidate for invertebrate species of the year.”
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