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Tongue-Eating Louse (Cymothoa exigua)
Smart
85Six Legs
Bug Bite · From the file on Tongue-Eating Louse

Mechanism: parasite enters fish through gills → migrates to mouth → attaches to tongue → severs blood supply → original tongue atrophies and falls off → parasite permanently remains as substitute tongue.

JournalBrusca & Gilligan (1983), Copeia1983Verified by sources
Read the full file on Tongue-Eating Louse

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