WEIRD BEASTS – Anyone For a Tongue Sandwich?

Anyone For a Tongue Sandwich?
by Brent Richards

Next time your kids ask you if monsters are real, you might have to fib a little if you say no. Some recent discoveries in the animal kingdom would be right at home in an H.P. Lovecraft story.

Tasty...

Fishermen off the northern coast of France have found a large parasitic isopod (a relative of the louse) that has evolved a rather hideous method for survival in its host: it gets into the fish’s mouth and devours its tongue. It then attaches itself at the back of the fish’s throat where it presumably feeds on whatever the fish normally eats. The really bizarre part is that the fish doesn’t seem to suffer any ill effects other than the loss of its tongue.