It is not a deformed tongue, but a parasite that destroyed the original language and took its place
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himIt is not a deformed tongue, but a parasite that destroyed the original language and took its place
The administrators of Galveston Island State Park, Texas, shared a disturbing and terrifying image on their Facebook page: from the mouth of a fish, an Atlantic croaker, a parasitic crustacean emerges. It's not a Halloween joke to scare users, but it's a real photo: the parasite ate the tongue of the fish and took its place - that's why this animal is also commonly called a tongue-eating louse.
Not a bizarre and rare phenomenon, but rather a custom for this little sea parasite, which it feeds on the languages of the animals that host it and which ends up replacing the eaten appendix with one's own body, also performing the mechanical functions related to the chewing process. The life cycle of the louse depends precisely on the replacement of the tongue of a larger animal: the female of the species severs the blood vessels that carry blood to the fish's tongue until it necrotizes and falls, then takes its place inside. of the mouth.
Like all parasites, this also does not kill the animal that hosts it, but allows it to continue to feed and swallow food - more than a parasitic relationship, it is almost a symbiosis. However, the fish attacked by the louse has a shorter life span, and the presence of the parasite can compromise fertility; moreover, the parasite can be a vehicle of disease for fish. These parasites are not a threat to our tongues, even if those who have had to deal with them (for example during fishing activities) have told of painful and deep bites received by these animals.
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Fonte: Galveston Island State Park
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