Cymothoa exigua

Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod

of the family Cymothoidae. This parasite enters fish through the Cymothoa exigua
gills. The female attaches to the tongue and the male attaches on the
gill arches beneath and behind the female. Females are 8–29
millimetres (0.3–1.1 in) long and 4–14 mm (0.16–0.55 in) wide.
Males are approximately 7.5–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long and 3–7 mm
(0.12–0.28 in) wide.[1] The parasite severs the blood vessels in the
fish's tongue, causing the tongue to fall off. It then attaches itself to
the remaining stub of the tongue and becomes the fish's new
tongue.[2]

Contents
Behavior
Distribution
Reproduction
Influence on humans
In popular media Scientific classification
References Kingdom: Animalia
External links
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Behavior Class: Malacostraca

Using its front claws, C. exigua severs the blood vessels in the fish's Order: Isopoda
tongue, causing the tongue to atrophy from lack of blood. The Family: Cymothoidae
parasite then replaces the fish's tongue by attaching its own body to
the muscles of the tongue stub.[3] It appears that the parasite does Genus: Cymothoa
not cause much other damage to the host fish,[2] but it has been Species: C. exigua
reported by Lanzing and O'Connor (1975) that infested fish with
two or more of the parasites are usually underweight.[4] Once C. Binomial name
exigua replaces the tongue, some feed on the host's blood and many Cymothoa exigua
others feed on fish mucus. This is the only known case of a parasite
(Schiødte & Meinert, 1884)
assumed to be functionally replacing a host organ.[2] When a host
fish dies, C. exigua will detach itself from the tongue stub after
some time, leave the fish's mouth cavity, and can then be seen clinging to its head or body externally. It is not
fully known what then happens to the parasite in the wild.

There are many species of Cymothoa,[5] and only cymothoid isopods are known to consume and replace the
host's organs. Other species of isopod known to parasitise fish in this way include Cymothoa borbonica[6] and
Ceratothoa imbricata.[7]
Distribution
C. exigua is quite widespread. It can be found from the Gulf of California southward to north of the Gulf of
Guayaquil, Ecuador, as well as in parts of the Atlantic. It has been sampled in waters from 2 metres (6 ft 7 in)
to almost 60 m (200 ft) deep. This isopod is known to parasitize eight species in two orders and four families
of fishes—7 species of order Perciformes: 3 snappers (Lutjanidae), 1 species of grunt (Haemulidae), 3 drums
(Sciaenidae), and 1 species of order Atheriniformes: 1 grunion (Atherinidae). New hosts from Costa Rica
include the Colorado snapper, Lutjanus colorado and Jordan's snapper, L. jordani.[8]

In 2005, a red snapper parasitized by what could be Cymothoa exigua was discovered in the United Kingdom.
As the parasite is normally found south of the Gulf of California, Mexico, this led to speculation that the
parasite's range may be expanding;[9] however, it is also possible that the isopod traveled from the Gulf of
California in the snapper's mouth, and its appearance in the UK was an isolated incident.[10]

Reproduction
Not much is known about the life cycle of C. exigua. It exhibits sexual reproduction. It is likely that juveniles
first attach to the gills of a fish and become males. As they mature, they become females, with mating likely
occurring on the gills. If there is no female present, within a pair of two males, one male can turn into a female
after it grows to 10 millimetres (0.4 in) in length.[11] The female then makes its way to the fish's mouth where
it uses its front claws to attach to the fish's tongue.

Influence on humans
It is currently believed that C. exigua are basically not harmful to humans, except that they will bite if
separated from their host and handled.[12]

In Puerto Rico, C. exigua was the leading subject of a lawsuit against a large supermarket chain. The isopod
C. exigua is found in snappers from the Eastern Pacific which are shipped worldwide for commercial
consumption. The customer in the lawsuit claimed to have been poisoned by eating an isopod cooked inside a
snapper. The case, however, was dropped on the grounds that isopods are not poisonous to humans and some
are even consumed as part of a regular diet.[8]

In popular media
An image of three clownfish, each with a parasitic isopod visible in its mouth, was shortlisted in
the underwater category of the 2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition of the
Natural History Museum, London.[13]

A mutated version of Cymothoa exigua was explored in the eco-terror film The Bay.

The College Humor internet show WTF 101 makes reference to the tongue-eating louse in the
first episode.[14]

This Book Is Full of Spiders revolves around a parasite that replaces the tongues of humans
and sometimes controls their behavior.

References
1. Brusca, Richard C. (1981). "A monograph on the Isopoda Cymothoidae (Crustacea) of the
Eastern Pacific" (http://www.desertmuseum.org/center/seaofcortez/docs/brusca_1981_cymotho
 idae.pdf) (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 73 (2): 117–199.
doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1981.tb01592.x (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1096-3642.1981.tb0159
2.x).
2. Brusca, R. C.; Gilligan, M. R. (1983). "Tongue replacement in a marine fish (Lutjanus guttatus)
by a parasitic isopod (Crustacea: Isopoda)" (https://web.archive.org/web/20190719212636/http
s://www.rickbrusca.com/http___www.rickbrusca.com_index.html/Cool_Inverts_files/Brusca%20
&%20Gilligan%201983%20Tongue%20Replacement.pdf) (PDF). Copeia. 3 (3): 813–816.
doi:10.2307/1444352 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1444352). JSTOR 1444352 (https://www.jsto
r.org/stable/1444352).
3. Finley Sr, Reginald (8 March 2016). "The Tongue-eating Louse (cymothoa exigua)" (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20181204011212/https://amazinglife.bio/tongue-eating-louse-cymothoa-exig
ua/). Amazinglife. Archived from the original (https://amazinglife.bio/tongue-eating-louse-cymot
hoa-exigua/) on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
4. Ruiz-Luna, Arturo (March 1992). "Studies on the biology of the parasitic isopod Cymothoa
exigua Schioedte and Meinert, 1844 and its relationship with the Snapper Lutjanus peru
(Pisces: Lutjanidae) Nichols and Murphy, 1922, from commercial catch in Michoacan" (https://d
oi.org/10.7773%2Fcm.v18i1.885). Ciencias Marinas. 18 (1): 19–34. doi:10.7773/cm.v18i1.885
(https://doi.org/10.7773%2Fcm.v18i1.885).
5. Thatcher, Vernon E.; de Araujo, Gustavo S.; de Lima, José T. A. X. & Chellappa, Sathyabama
(2007). "Cymothoa spinipalpa sp. nov. (Isopoda, Cymothoidae) a buccal cavity parasite of the
marine fish, Oligoplites saurus (Bloch & Schneider) (Osteichthyes, Carangidae) of Rio Grande
do Norte State, Brazil" (http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbzool/v24n1/32.pdf) (PDF). Revista Brasileira
de Zoologia. 24 (1): 238–245. doi:10.1590/S0101-81752007000100032 (https://doi.org/10.159
0%2FS0101-81752007000100032). Cite uses deprecated parameter |last-author-amp=
(help)
6. Parker, D.; Booth, A.J. (2013). "The tongue-replacing isopod Cymothoa borbonica reduces the
growth of largespot pompano Trachinotus botla" (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257
377303). Marine Biology. 160 (11): 2943–2950. doi:10.1007/s00227-013-2284-7 (https://doi.or
g/10.1007%2Fs00227-013-2284-7).
7. Bates, Mary (18 September 2012). "Tongue-eating parasites inspire new horror movie" (https://
www.aaas.org/blog/qualia/tongue-eating-parasites-inspire-new-horror-movie). Qualia.
American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
8. Williams, Ernest H., Jr.; Bunkley-Williams, Lucy (2003). "New records of fish-parasitic isopods
(Cymothoidae) in the Eastern Pacific (Galapagos and Costa Rica)" (http://aquaticcommons.org/
8583/1/NG_62_2003_Williams%26Bunkley-Williams_Fish-parasitic_isopods.pdf) (PDF).
Noticias de Galápagos (62): 21–23.
9. "Tongue-eating bug found in fish" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4200000/newsid
_4209000/4209004.stm). BBC News. 2 September 2005.
10. "Tongue-eating louse found on supermarket snapper" (http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/co
ntent.php?sid=704). Practical Fishkeeping. 6 September 2005.
11. Ruiz-L., A.; Madrid-V., J. (1992). "Studies on the biology of the parasitic isopod Cymothoa
exigua Schioedte and Meinert, 1884 and its relationship with the snapper Lutjanus peru
(Pisces: Lutjanidae) Nichols and Murphy, 1922, from commercial catch in Michoacan" (https://d
oi.org/10.7773%2Fcm.v18i1.885). Ciencias Marinas. 18 (1): 19–34. doi:10.7773/cm.v18i1.885
(https://doi.org/10.7773%2Fcm.v18i1.885).
12. "Rare tongue-eating parasite found" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/jersey/8246001.stm).
BBC News. 9 September 2009.
13. "Finalist Shots of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017" (http://petapixel.com/2017/09/12/final
ist-shots-wildlife-photographer-year-2017). PetaPixel. 2017-09-12. Retrieved 19 September
2017.
14. "The Gruesome Truth About Parasites" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aZVgyUlSng).
YouTube. 2019-01-15. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
External links
Images and discussion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXpLkRh_NQ4)

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