To say that the most magical, the most bizarre, the most disgusting, the most terrible, the most incredible animal on the earth, I am afraid that this is none other than this guy. Uh, don't look at this Nemo clownfish, look at its mouth, that guy is the protagonist of today!
This guy is called Cymothoa exigua, a parasitic crustacean, also known as tongue-eating lice or tongue-eating worms.
As the name suggests, so you can probably tell what kind of virtue this guy is. In its infancy, it will take advantage of the fact that the host fish is not prepared, pass through its gills, enter its mouth, and then drink the blood in its tongue, causing the tongue to shrink and fall off, and sit on the base of the tongue with a big swing, and become a tongue!
You really don't have to say that after the head lice replace the tongue, while feeding on the fish's blood or mucus, while doing its duty of the tongue to help the host fish eat, the host does not seem to have any discomfort.
The shrunken-headed fish lice, the only species known to parasitize in a way that replaces the host organs on their own, is too scary and too disgusting.
The most ironic thing is that the shrunken-headed fish lice also have fun in the host's body. The larvae of the shrunken head lice are males, hang on the gills of the fish, and become females after adulthood, sitting on the base of the tongue of the host fish.
When female and male lice parasitize the host fish at the same time, they will find pleasure in the mouth of the host (it is also said that it is on the gills), breed offspring, really shameless enough, and what, weibo to quit have a fight.
This is probably really terrifying and disgusting to the host fish, but there is nothing to do, and it is directly taught to think about the unfortunate encounter of the broken fish. Imagine you have such a ghostly guy in your mouth, and hope you can still sleep at night.
Well, like this, don't look at the timid. (All images from the internet)