Mysterious Creepy Tongue-Eating Parasite Found in Galveston Texas
There's something creepy going on at Galveston Island State Park, just last week a tongue-eating parasite was discovered.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, a fish that was caught at Galveston Island State Park just last week had what they call a tongue-eating louse known as an isopod. The isopod crustacean as it is properly called invades the mouth of the fish by latching onto the fish's tongue and detaches by eating it where it eventually becomes the new tongue of the fish for its lifespan. The parasite then feeds off the mucus of the fish for its survival. Nasty!
Sounds like some horror science fiction movie, right? Well, I'll get into that at the end of this story.
However, the good news is that it doesn't kill the fish or harm people in any kind of way. If you catch one of these fish and see one in its mouth just pluck it out and the fish will still be good to eat. But still, I'll think I'll pass.
Take a close-up view inside this Atlantic Croaker fish's mouth. Can you spot the isopod crustacean? Gross! Makes me want to croak.
Here's one of the parasites being removed from a fish's mouth. They say the isopod is related to the rolly-polly, you can see the similarities.
Now, back to that movie thing, when I said this sounds like something you would see in a movie, actually back in 2012, there was a horror movie released that was about a killer parasite.
Happy Fishing!
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