Tongue-eating parasite found inside fish's mouth

An unusual case of a parasite was observed which eats a fish’s tongue and becomes the tongue itself at the Galveston Island State Park in the US state of Texas.

According to the news agency’s report, it was mentioned that the parasite, which is a tongue-eating louse, was discovered in the mouth of an Atlantic Croaker fish.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department staff took its picture and shared it on their Facebook page.

“Inside this Atlantic Croaker’s mouth is a parasitic isopod called a tongue-eating louse,” the description about the social media picture read. “This parasite detaches the fish’s tongue, attaches itself to the fish’s mouth, and becomes its tongue.”

Read More: Tongue-eating louse found in the mouth of a fish

They added: “The parasite then feeds on the fish’s mucus. It also happens to be the only known case where a parasite functionally replaces a host’s organ.”

The staff mentioned that it does not harm the fish and neither it affects the human being. The strange parasite caught the attention of the parasite and they were clearly creeped out by it.

A Facebook user said that the strange phenomenon was making him stop eating fish while another said that that “Leave it to nature be really weird.”