Cymothoa exigua
Cymothoa exigua
Cymothoa exigua is a parasitic isopod, mainly various species of the genus Lutjanus affects the Schnapperfamilie. The parasite occurs between the Gulf of California and Ecuador in the eastern Pacific.
Way of life
Cymothoa exigua as the other Cymothoidae proterandrischer a hermaphrodite and begins its life cycle as free-swimming males. After penetration into a fish host via the mouth or the gills he hooked firmly with the claws at the base of the tongue of the fish and feeds on the blood from the artery there. With increasing growth of the parasite, the tongue of the fish died due to anemia (see atrophy). Henceforth, the parasite the place and the function of the tongue, so that the fish as before can take food from which miternährt the parasite. This is the only case described in which a body part of a parasite of its host functionally replaced.
In the mouth of the fish Cymothoa exigua grows to the female form with a length up to 28 mm zoom. Smaller males (up to 15 mm) are often found behind and below the females on the gill arches of the host. Mating takes place in the host, the eggs remain in a pouch under the abdomen of the female until the young are released.