February 9, 2010
February 8, 2010
Cymothoa Exigua

via mad decent:
This is Cymothoa Exigua, the parasitic crustacean that attaches itself (by it’s anus) to the base of the spotted rose snapper’s tongue. It then extracts the blood out of the fish’s tongue and gradually fully replaces the fish’s tongue. The fish is even able to use the parasite just like a normal tongue. And the craziest part is, it causes no damage to the snapper and after the parasite is al settled in it just eats the food that the fish eats. And its the only known case of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ. Here’s a clip of some crazy valley girl that likes to kill the Zombie Tongues.

ZOMBIE CRAB:

Next up is the barnacle, Sacculina leaves it shell behind to nest in a crabs body. Inside, Sacculina sets up shop, growing tendrils through the crab’s body and slowly feeding on it. It castrates the crab (if male) and effectively turns the crab into a female nanny for its young. This makes the crab not only infertile but also uninterested in mating. The barnacle, on the other hand, bores a hole open in the crab’s shell big enough to let male Sacculina in to mate. The zombie crab treats the Sacculina eggs and larvae as its own, having lost the will to do anything but serve its parasite master. Gangster, its like a Zombie crab incubator pimp.























