There are around 380 species of tongue-eating isopods in existence. The isopod enters a fish's body through the gills, grabs onto the fish tongue with its legs , and feeds on it until the tongue ...

“I found a tongue-eating isopod in one of our wrasse scans this morning while digitizing it,” Rice University fish scientist Dr. Kory Evans said.

Starved, the tongue dies and falls off, and the louse, still inside the fish’s mouth, replaces it entirely, stealing nutrients by taking pieces of whatever the fish is eating and taking some of ...

This species of isopod is known as the tongue-eating louse (Cymothoa exigua), an apt description.When young, a male isopod will attach itself to the hapless fish’s gills.

It's the stuff of nightmares, or science fiction: a parasite that wants to get inside an animal's mouth, where it attacks — and replaces — the tongue. Search Query Show Search News ...

The famous tongue replacement isopod, Ceratothoa famosa, in the mouth of a Cape seabream. Professor Nico Smit specializes in aquatic parasitology at Northwestern University in South Africa.

The research team noted that while isopods are a widely distributed group of crustaceans, boasting more than 10,000 species today, their fossil record remains relatively sparse.

The famous tongue replacement isopod, Ceratothoa famosa, in the mouth of a Cape seabream. Professor Nico Smit specializes in aquatic parasitology at Northwestern University in South Africa.

The famous tongue replacement isopod, Ceratothoa famosa, in the mouth of a Cape seabream. Professor Nico Smit specializes in aquatic parasitology at Northwestern University in South Africa.

Many years ago, while working on his Ph.D., Smit ran across something special in the coastal waters off South Africa: a tongue-replacing parasite. Search Query Show Search. HOME. News.