Bizarre Tongue-Eating Parasite Discovered Off the Jersey Coast
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- pjacobs51
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more from News:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/tongue-eating-parasite-discov...
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.
While the isopod, a kind of louse, has been known to exist for a while now, discoveries of live specimens is rare. The BBC reports that "Fishermen near the Minquiers - islands under the jurisdiction of Jersey - found the isopod, a type of louse, inside a weaver fish." So no, the tongue-eater wasn't found in that Jersey. The Jersey Shore is still tongue replacing creature-free, if you stateside Northeasterners were worried about the thing ruining your late summer vacationing.
Not that you'd have to be too concerned anyways--the isopod isn't a threat to humans in the slightest, though it's reportedly vicious, and can deliver quite a little bite. One of the fishermen who found the creature described it thus: "Really quite large, really quite hideous - if you turn it over its got dozens of these really sharp, nasty claws underneath and I thought 'that's a bit of a nasty beast'." And while it can't seriously hurt people, it evidently doesn't like them: "It doesn't affect humans other than if you do actually come across a live one and try and pick it up - they are quite vicious, they will deliver a good nip."
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RobIsAHuman
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WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Has noone else noticed it looks like the fish has a row of human teeth on the top of it's mouth???????????????????? I only WISH this is a hoax so I can sleep tonight.
- 2 months ago
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RobIsAHuman
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John_Blatchford
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Could I get permission to use the amazing image for my article at: http://zoology.suite101.com/article.cfm/isopod_parasite_eats_fish_tongue ?
email john@blatchford.name
- 5 months ago
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John_Blatchford
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Notagoth
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Thith hath made my tongue go funny!
- 5 months ago
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Notagoth
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tallmansam
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they are finaly arriving! aaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh
- 5 months ago
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tallmansam
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asherp
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This isn't new.
It might be that this parasite is new to the New Jersey Coast, but these animals have been known to science for decades.
- 5 months ago
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asherp
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hayckuh
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I stared at my tongue for ten minutes thanks to this. That thing scares the shit out of me!
- 5 months ago
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hayckuh
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imp_print
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send a shipment to SC
- 5 months ago
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imp_print
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thewallisgirl
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aaaaaaaaaahahahaahaha... of course they found this thing off the Jersey Shore!
- 5 months ago
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thewallisgirl
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StandaboveUnderstand
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thewallisgirl:
you didn't read it all did you?
- 5 months ago
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StandaboveUnderstand
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thewallisgirl
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thewallisgirl:
nope! i'm sure they'll show up in dirty jerz sooner or later haha
- 5 months ago
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thewallisgirl
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StandaboveUnderstand
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thewallisgirl:
gongtheplanet you got to be joking it looks like you all need a bath. PA sucks.
- 5 months ago
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StandaboveUnderstand
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thewallisgirl
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thewallisgirl:
wow dude, sounds like you need a gonging...
- 5 months ago
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thewallisgirl
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bc_f
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fish have tongues?
- 5 months ago
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bc_f
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MoonLoon
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bc_f:
Do chickens have lips?
- 5 months ago
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MoonLoon
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nursediesel
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bc_f:
Yeah, and human like incisors!
- 5 months ago
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nursediesel
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biggranny
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just too creepy for me
- 5 months ago
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biggranny
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shroomfairy
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gross!
- 5 months ago
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shroomfairy
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bombastinator
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Sphincter factor 9! Holy bat gonads but that thing is nasty! Even ignoring the whole tongue eating thing! A 1"+ louse? eww ewww ewwwwwww!
- 5 months ago
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bombastinator
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bc_f
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bombastinator:
have you ever seen the giant isopods that are on the ocean bottom?
- 5 months ago
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bc_f
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bombastinator
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bombastinator:
mm.. I guess it's not so bad when you think of them as wacky lobster. i guess when they mean related all they are doing is counting legs, I thought it was a giant insect.
- 5 months ago
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bombastinator
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bc_f
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bombastinator:
well they are all in the same phylum...lobsters and shrimp and crabs are basically just ocean bugs...totally gross. i saw footage of those giant isopods on 'planet earth' and they literally crawl around the bottom just like little lice. sick!
- 5 months ago
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bc_f
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bombastinator
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bombastinator:
Naw, insects are insects. There are aquatic insects. These aren't them. Crabs and lobsters have a full set of gills and organs and stuff. Humans are in the phylum chordata which is anything with a spinal cord. That's not too specific.
- 5 months ago
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bombastinator
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Shoop_Da_Woop
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this makes me feel itchy......
- 5 months ago
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Shoop_Da_Woop
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carmalite
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EWE..........
- 5 months ago
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carmalite
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PressCore
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Holy shit !!! Sigorney Weaver will make the big 60 on October 9th, 2009. I haven't seen her in a sci fi movie since the 1999 movie Galaxy Quest. Now's the time to make Alien 5. The Alien has finaly become an E.T. USO !!! My God, if they're eating tongues, they're a threat to freedom of speech, and Democrac everywhere. Being the arsenal of Democracy we have to launch a counter attack, or not.
- 5 months ago
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PressCore
