Current Events > There's an isopod that tears and replaces a fishs tongue and changes sex

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymothoa_exigua

Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod of the family Cymothoidae. This parasite enters fish through the gills. The female attaches to the tongue and the male attaches on the gill arches beneath and behind the female. Females are 829 millimetres (0.31.1 in) long and 414 mm (0.160.55 in) wide. Males are approximately 7.515 mm (0.30.6 in) long and 37 mm (0.120.28 in) wide. 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 the tongue and becomes the fish's new tongue.

Juveniles first attach to the gills of a fish and become males. As they mature, they become females, with mating likely occurring on the gills. If there is no female present, within a pair of two males, one male can turn into a female after it grows to 10 millimetres (0.4 in) in length.

Damn, nature.

Is this Talking Head?
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