Bizarre Tongue-Eating Parasite Discovered Off the Jersey Coast

Posted by disinfogreg on January 11, 2010

No, it’s not the latest cast member from MTV’s Jersey Shore. It’s even more disturbing:
via treehugger

There’s been a spate of amazing animal discoveries recently–the giant rat-eating plants found in the Philippines, a huge woolly rat discovered in a volcanic crater–and now, yet another creature has emerged that could be right out of a sci-fi film. It’s a bizarre creature that survives by eating its hosts’ tongue and then attaching itself inside the mouth.

The sea-dwelling parasite attacks fish, burrows into it, and then devours its tongue. After eating the tongue, the parasite proceeds to live inside the fish’s mouth. There’s a horror film waiting to be made about this thing. Surprisingly, the fish doesn’t seem to suffer any severe impediment–just the loss of its tongue–and seems to have no trouble surviving with its new, far uglier tongue.