Isopods – Tongue eating fish parasites

This is one nasty creature – It burrows into fish and eats out their tongue and then takes its place. Called isopods, they are crustaceans with seven pairs of legs and some species can be half a meter long (50 cm)! Most species are just about 1 inch long though (fortunately).

Fishermen near the island of Minquiers, near Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, found an isopod inside a weaver fish.

Marine biologist, Paul Chambers, said, ” When we emptied the fish bag out there at the bottom was this incredibly ugly looking isopod.

“Really quite large, really quite hideous – if you turn it over its got dozens of these really sharp, nasty claws underneath and I thought ‘that’s a bit of a nasty beast’.

“Apparently there’s not too much ill effect to the fish itself except it’s lost its tongue.”

Not all isopods are parasites though, only some species are. If you’re diving you should steer clear of them, as they can give a nasty bite.

Source: BBC

Here are some GIANT isopods.