Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod of the family Cymothoidae. It enters fish through the gills. The female attaches to the tongue, while the male attaches to the gill arches beneath and behind the female. Females are 8–29 mm (0.3–1.1 in) long and 4–14 mm (0.16–0.55 in) wide. Males are about 7.5–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long and 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) wide.[1] The parasite severs the blood vessels in the fish's tongue, causing the tongue to fall off. It then attaches itself to the remaining stub of tongue and the parasite itself effectively serves as the fish's new "tongue".[2]
Many species of Cymothoa have been identified,[3] and only cymothoid isopods are known to consume and replace the host's organs. Other species of isopods known to parasitize fish in this way include C. borbonica[4] and Ceratothoa imbricata.[5] Different cymothoid genera are adapted to specific areas of attachment on the host. This includes scale-clingers, mouth- or gill-dwellers, and flesh-burrowers.[6]
^Brusca, Richard C. (1981). "A monograph on the Isopoda Cymothoidae (Crustacea) of the Eastern Pacific" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 73 (2): 117–199. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1981.tb01592.x.
^Brusca, R. C.; Gilligan, M. R. (1983). "Tongue replacement in a marine fish (Lutjanus guttatus) by a parasitic isopod (Crustacea: Isopoda)" (PDF). Copeia. 3 (3): 813–816. doi:10.2307/1444352. JSTOR 1444352. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-19.
^Thatcher, Vernon E.; de Araujo, Gustavo S.; de Lima, José T. A. X. & Chellappa, Sathyabama (2007). "Cymothoa spinipalpa sp. nov. (Isopoda, Cymothoidae) a buccal cavity parasite of the marine fish, Oligoplites saurus (Bloch & Schneider) (Osteichthyes, Carangidae) of Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil" (PDF). Revista Brasileira de Zoologia. 24 (1): 238–245. doi:10.1590/S0101-81752007000100032.
^Parker, D.; Booth, A.J. (2013). "The tongue-replacing isopod Cymothoa borbonica reduces the growth of largespot pompano Trachinotus botla". Marine Biology. 160 (11): 2943–2950. doi:10.1007/s00227-013-2284-7. S2CID 85025367.
^Bates, Mary (18 September 2012). "Tongue-eating parasites inspire new horror movie". Qualia. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
^Pawluk, Rebecca J.; Ciampoli, Marco; Mariani, Stefano (14 April 2015). "Host size constrains growth patterns in both female and male Ceratothoa italica, a mouth-dwelling isopod". Marine and Freshwater Research. 66 (4): 381–384. doi:10.1071/MF14125. ISSN 1448-6059.
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