This unusual creature bears a terrifying name. A person who first heard of a wood louse eating a tongue will surely immediately imagine a real monster. The name is quite justified, but everything is not so scary. Want to learn about these amazing animals? Look for answers to all questions in our article.
Species affiliation
The scientific name for woodworm eats is cymothoa exigua. These animals belong to the type of arthropods and the class of higher cancers. As you can see, wood lice are related to the usual crayfish and shrimp.
The animal leads a parasitic lifestyle and can live only in the oral cavity of the fish.
Unusual way to parasitize
Researchers have always been of particular interest to unusual creatures. In this regard, wood lice - the eater of the tongue is simply unique. No other living creature behaves this way.
The parasite finds its owner literally in the first days of life. It penetrates the oral cavity through the gill slits or directly through the mouth. With the help of sharp claws, the arthropod is attached to the tongue, digs into it, and begins to suck out blood. In this case, the fish does not show concern. However, at this stage it is too early to talk about something unusual. Many parasites feed on the blood of the hosts.
The most interesting part starts later. The tongue of the fish gradually atrophies until it is completely bled, completely bled. But the wood louse will not abandon the fish, it will show a peculiar fidelity until the end of life. Moreover, over time, the body of the wood louse fully assumes all the functions of the language it has destroyed. The fish does not feel discomfort, hunts, grabs food and eats, as it was before meeting with the parasite.
Arthropod does not pretend to catch fish and continues to be content with small things - blood and mucus. Probably, wood lice saliva contains painkillers, because the fish does not feel pain. Some species eventually cease to consume blood at all, being content with one mucus.
Scientists studying the lifestyle of these creatures have found that in nature there are no cases where a wood louse would leave the owner and find another. She will stay with the fish until she dies of old age. In rare cases, biologists find two wood lice in the mouth of large fish, which coexist peacefully nearby. Even so, the fish feels normal.
After the death of woodlice, the tongue of the fish does not recover. She has to adapt to do without him, and without an assistant who replaced him.
Appearance
Woodlouse, devouring the tongue, looks like most members of the family. It has an elongated, slightly flattened segmented body, similar to a cocoon, equipped with several pairs of small limbs. Ahead, a small head peers out from under the shell with a pair of dark eyes. A closer look reveals a mouthpart.
Woodlice have a white or yellowish color.
Spread
Lingual wood lice are found on the coast of the United States, mainly in California. Currently, scientists have no data on the expansion of the range. However, in 2005, a case was discovered of the discovery of this creature off the coast of Great Britain. Since then, nothing of the kind has been repeated. Biologists believe that this case was a one-off and the arthropod got so far in the mouth of the host fish (for example, snapper).
Breeding
Female woodlice that devour the tongue grow to 3.5 cm. Males are smaller, they barely exceed 1.5 cm.
For breeding, the male swims in the mouth of the fish in which the female lives. Arthropod lingual cancers mate directly in the oral cavity. The female carries eggs in a special pouch on the abdomen, and the born larvae immediately leave their “native home” in order to go in search of host fish.
Woodlouse devouring the tongue in cinema
This unusual parasite attracted the attention of filmmakers. In 2012, the premiere of the American horror film "The Bay" took place, the plot of which revolves around a tongue-eating parasite. As conceived by the authors, the action takes place in a bay into which industrial waste merges. Environmental pollution caused mutations, and wood lice became dangerous to humans. Tongue-eaters no longer hunt fish, they are interested in larger game. The effect is enhanced by frames shot on an amateur camera - they make the film more realistic.
