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01-29-2006, 03:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-29-2006, 08:06 AM by DeeBye.)
![[Image: tongueeater7mw.jpg]](http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/4862/tongueeater7mw.jpg)
The little fella you see in this Red Snapper's mouth is a parasitic crustacean known as Cymothoa exigua. It is also known as a Tongue Biter. It attaches itself to the tongue of a fish and feeds on the bloodflow. The tongue eventually atrophies, dies and falls off. Cymothoa exigua eventually replaces the host's tongue.
Here is a picture of a poor fish with two of these little buggers.
edit: after further consideration, this picture is a photoshop. Withdrawn.
Here's a picture of host and parasite with part of the host's jaw removed to show what it looks like in profile.
![[Image: tbiter28tz.jpg]](http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/4599/tbiter28tz.jpg)
Cymothoa exigua apparently causes no further harm to the host fish other than the loss of tongue. I can only imagine how excrutiatingly irritating it must be to have a parasitic crustacean as a tongue. Heck, my own tongue bothers me when I think about it too much. I sometimes get the idea that my tongue just doesn't fit my mouth quite right, and then I almost go crazy fixating on that notion. Having a bug as a tongue would drive me to suicide.
The ocean scares me sometimes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymothoa_exigua
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4...000/4209004.stm
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This post made me think of BloopWatch.org, a site that posts strange news articles collected from the web and offers the occasional amusing correlation to Lovecraft stories and mythos.
Wondering if anything odd had been posted recently, I clicked my BloopWatch bookmark for the first time in several months and was dismayed to find a generic ISP page with BloopWatch.org splashed across the top. It seems, BloopWatch has died.
I am sad.
And I agree; having a crustacean for a tongue would suck.
"AND THEN THE PALADIN TOOK MY EYES!"
Forever oppressed by the GOLs.
Grom Hellscream: [Orcish] kek
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That is one of the most disgusting and disturbing things I've ever seen (of course, there is tubgirl...). I don't know why, but that really gets me...
But whate'er I be,
Nor I, nor any man that is,
With nothing shall be pleased till he be eased
With being nothing.
William Shakespeare - Richard II
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01-29-2006, 08:28 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-29-2006, 08:28 AM by Doc.)
In Japan, they like to eat those things. I read about that in a book. They cook the fish up whole, with that nasty thing right there in its mouth, and then everybody around the table at the meal decides in one form or another who gets the tasty treat. And then that person plucks it out of the mouth and it's it.
Just pops it in their mouth, shell and all, and crunches it up.
Now pardon me while I go blow chunks.
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
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Thanks, DeeBye. I was having breakfast when I clicked on this topic.
-G.
Even the mountains
Last not forever:
Someday they, too, shall
Crumble to dust.
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Doc,Jan 29 2006, 04:28 AM Wrote:In Japan, they like to eat those things. I read about that in a book. They cook the fish up whole, with that nasty thing right there in its mouth, and then everybody around the table at the meal decides in one form or another who gets the tasty treat. And then that person plucks it out of the mouth and it's it.
Just pops it in their mouth, shell and all, and crunches it up.
Now pardon me while I go blow chunks.
[right][snapback]100424[/snapback][/right]
I betcha it tastes great. I've never met an ocean crusatacean that I didn't like. It probably tastes like a shrimp.
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01-30-2006, 02:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-30-2006, 02:56 PM by eppie.)
Well, that made me lose my appetite for a while...
Are you sure you wont consider starting political threads like a good lurker? :D
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This thread needs a warning label for those of us with delicate constitutions.
I can handle some pretty disgusting things but others cut right to the quick. :P
The Bill of No Rights
The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance. Robert A. Heinlein
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Can't be any worse than a fish that likes to swim up your penis. :blink: :wacko:
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
Posts: 490
Threads: 37
Joined: Feb 2003
I'd just like to take this opportunity to state that evolution is amazing and awe-inspiring.
--Mith
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
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Quote:I'd just like to take this opportunity to state that evolution is amazing and awe-inspiring.
Let the debate begin!
*runs for cover*
"Just as individuals are born, mature, breed and die, so do societies, civilizations and governments."
Muad'Dib - Children of Dune
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ima_nerd,Jan 30 2006, 05:51 PM Wrote:Let the debate begin!
*runs for cover*
[right][snapback]100550[/snapback][/right]
Oops.
--Mith
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
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Hi, Doc,
:D When I read this last night, I had the same thought, but didn't have time right then to search for a relevant article. And, tonight when I return, I find you've made it unnecessary for me to do so.
Interesting how this story tends to stick like Super Glue in the mind of every guy who hears it... :whistling:
To Mithrander: "evolution is amazing and awe-inspiring." Amen, brother! B)
The biology of single organisms is amazing enough - but get into symbiosis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis ) and you can find even more fantistic things.
Aah, the "stories" I've come across over the years... :)
I once gave a talk to a botany club that I titled "Lichens: the ultimate symbiosis?"
But there are lots of fascinating "stories" found in other groups of organisms, too, as DeeBye's post shows...
Regards,
Dako-ta
[insert profound quote here]
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01-31-2006, 05:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-31-2006, 05:47 AM by Premezilla.)
Chaerophon,Jan 28 2006, 09:57 PM Wrote:That is one of the most disgusting and disturbing things I've ever seen (of course, there is tubgirl...). I don't know why, but that really gets me...
[right][snapback]100423[/snapback][/right]
....
.......
.........what the heck is a tubgirl?
*EDIT*
Sweet jesus mother of pearl. That was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life. My skin is still crawling.
UGH! ARGH! SCATS GALORE! I DON'T WANT NONE AND I DON'T WANT MORE!
tubgirl sucks.
really.
"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. At least you'll be a mile away from them and you'll have their shoes." ~?
Stonemaul - Sneakybast, 51 Rogue
Terenas - Sneaksmccoy, 1 Rogue
Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!
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Premezilla,Jan 31 2006, 12:41 AM Wrote:....
.......
.........what the heck is a tubgirl?
[right][snapback]100575[/snapback][/right]
Famous last words... everyone's gotta see it at least once I suppose.
Every day the internet re-affirms to me that, at the core, it's really just a big meeting place for all the people of the world to meet and be weird in (relative) anonymity.
--Mith
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
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01-31-2006, 01:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-31-2006, 01:54 PM by Doc.)
I work as a forum admin in another place, and had to deal with a "Lemon Party" outbreak recently.
Worse than tubgirl.
Just... Worse. Stab your eyes out with a dinner fork kind of worse.
Gah :blink: :wacko:
Edit. Mod. Mod. So totally not awake. I do not have mystical admin powers. Yet. <_<
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
Posts: 942
Threads: 100
Joined: Feb 2003
01-31-2006, 03:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-31-2006, 04:00 PM by Zarathustra.)
Very interesting. But at least it doesn't brainwash the fish into killing itself.
Now that's a scary parasite.
Edit/Addition: Here is a site with a video of the parasite at work.
See you in Town,
-Z
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Am I the only one on this forum that thinks that this wee little critter in the first pic actually looks pretty cute?
Lookatim, snuggled up nice and comfy in that mean red snapper's mouth.
When in mortal danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
BattleTag: Schrau#2386
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Sorry. You'll never be the same, and it's all my fault. You were very lucky not to have come across that until now!
But whate'er I be,
Nor I, nor any man that is,
With nothing shall be pleased till he be eased
With being nothing.
William Shakespeare - Richard II
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Threads: 412
Joined: Feb 2003
Chaerophon,Feb 1 2006, 02:24 AM Wrote:Sorry. You'll never be the same, and it's all my fault. You were very lucky not to have come across that until now!
[right][snapback]100711[/snapback][/right]
mrhands.mpg is even worse
Don't say I didn't warn you.
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