Jill Harness
Creatures Too Weird and Scary To Be Fake
by Jill Harness - October 21, 2009 - 10:22 AM

FishParasite

Some recently discovered animals are proving the old expression about truth being stranger than fiction. This post on Wired examines these terrifying biological monstrosities.

The parasite above was discovered by fishermen on the northern coast of France. The massive isopod has a downright evil means of survival—it lives in the mouth of its host and survives by eating the poor creature’s tongue. When the tongue is mostly destroyed, the parasite moves to the back of the fish’s throat to eat some of the food the host would normally digest. The weirdest part is that the fish stays completely fine. Well, other than the loss of its tongue.

[Image credit: io9.com.]

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Comments (18)

  1. nuh-uh!

    posted by Hyacinth on 10-21-2009 at 11:11 am

  2. Gross! I can’t believe I decided to read this during lunch. Goodbye appetite.

    posted by K on 10-21-2009 at 11:28 am

  3. ew ew ew ew ew. ::shudder::

    creepy.

    Keep ‘em coming, though!

    posted by OkieMelissa on 10-21-2009 at 11:44 am

  4. That’s gross but looks like something straight out of Fringe, except it’d be a person not a fish.

    posted by k on 10-21-2009 at 11:57 am

  5. Umm… and why does the fish have human teeth?

    posted by TinaRechele on 10-21-2009 at 12:56 pm

  6. ew….that totally gave me the shivers.

    posted by jenny on 10-21-2009 at 1:00 pm

  7. You missed the last point. The fish stays fine after that because the parasite *acts like a tongue* for the fish after it moves in.

    posted by Brian Utterback on 10-21-2009 at 1:18 pm

  8. I am agreeing with TinaRechele and asking why does the fish have human teeth? Also doing a little web wandering and that is not what a weaver fish looks like as far as I can tell… I shall continue to scour for the facts.

    posted by Tiffany on 10-21-2009 at 2:15 pm

  9. I definitely think that’s an “after the jump” photo. I didn’t want to see it, and now I can’t unsee it.

    posted by Sam on 10-21-2009 at 2:51 pm

  10. God, is that where Greiger got the idea for the Alien?

    posted by Zane on 10-21-2009 at 3:54 pm

  11. The fish is a sheepshead drum.

    posted by nikki on 10-21-2009 at 5:57 pm

  12. WELL, IT’S ALMOST HOLLOWEEN…. If I caught a fish and went to take the hook out and saw that, I’d probably (1)mess my pants. (2)shoot it… with my Nikon. (3)look around to see who had lost their upper-plate. (4)wonder what kind of mushrooms were on my pizza.(5)take it to my taxidermist.

    posted by modest mensa on 10-21-2009 at 7:25 pm

  13. yeah… so fish don’t have incisors. only mammals do. so…. about that picture…

    posted by ryan on 10-21-2009 at 9:18 pm

  14. Completely fake…

    It was a good attempt though…

    Not only does it have human teeth which makes it a dead give away already..but look at the picture quality of the fish and the finger, obviously not from the same camera or the same picture…

    But at least it was a good try…

    posted by Brian on 10-21-2009 at 10:37 pm

  15. So yeah, fish DO have incisors. And it is most likely a sheephead in the picture. Click on my name to go to the Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology page where it shows a few examples of fish teeth types

    posted by Katina on 10-21-2009 at 11:49 pm

  16. Another thought, I would also like to point out that this fish has had the sides of its mouth cut open all the way to what looks like the gill rakers. Oh and I have linked another picture of a sheepshead.

    posted by Katina on 10-22-2009 at 12:03 am

  17. Just one? What the heck lol! I am a greedy American!!!

    posted by Eric on 10-22-2009 at 2:48 am

  18. se comio el pico del pez

    posted by falo on 11-11-2010 at 12:56 pm

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