MMMM! Delicious! I love a good BBQ, but I can say with absolute certainty that BBQing a cymothoa exigua isn’t going to make it taste any better. That being said, these parasites do no real damage to fish they inhabit. And according to reliable sources, eating fish containing the parasite is perfectly safe.
Personally I’d be a little put off if something this gnarly looking crawled out of the face of my dinner, and so was David…
I purchased a 6kg pack of sea bass, cleaned and gutted four and popped two of them on my barbecue.
After about 10 minutes I turned them over, and after a further 5 minutes went to check on them. It must have become too hot in there for the parasite, which became visible half out of the fish’s mouth.
I didn’t realize what it was, so didn’t check to see if the fish still had a tongue. I’m not even sure if the parasite crawled out, or was pushed out as a result of the fish cooking.
We are not intending to eat sea bass for a while!!
Regards,
David
Thanks David!
I can thankfully say I have yet to see one of these things. I feel itchy all over just from the photos!
I have to agree it gives me the creeps.
I saw several in the BVI, but always in smaller fish that I wasn’t eating…
That’s a big one too, quite a specimen.
chris, if you’ve ever eaten the Japanese dishes “aji nanban-zuke” or “tsumire” you have almost certainly eaten these creatures as well.
It looks like something out of Alien!…Are these in Saltwater Fish only or do they appear in Fresh as well?
that’s definitely creepy!!!
I will doble chek next time i decide to cook a sea bass.
Where can we found this parasite?
Don’t know what all the fuss is about….Looks like perfectly good protein to me.
My personal record is finding three infecting the same animal (Rhexanella in a red snapper). It must have been quite a fight inside for the one tongue.
Three?? Did you get a photo of that – I think I remember seeing a photo on your site with two in the mouth, but I’ve never seen three!
Adam! Don’t say such things! I’ll never sleep again!
Wow, now I’m going to have to look down the mouth of everything I eat. Or chop the head off and never look!
Mating pair on roof of mouth after eating the fish’s tongue.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e1_1231399205
and
Fish Tongue Parasite
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=41c_1266552207
Woah good videos.. really creepy music on the first one lol.
[...] it’s safe to say we all agree it’s pretty gross looking. But how would you feel if you found this parasite it in your dinner. Hope this post (and many more like it) doesn’t ruin your [...]