BBQ’d Tongue Eating Fish Parasite!

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!

Whats the Matter, Parasite Got Your Tongue?

I’ve caught a few freshwater fish with leeches, and seen a few pictures from friends of Musky with large ulcers, but I’ve never seen anything like this. One things for sure the next time I catch a fish I’ll be looking in their mouth for one of these buggers. You can find more information and pictures on the Australian Museum Fish Site.

Cymothoa exigua, a crustacean, is the only known parasite that effectively replaces a body organ. It makes its home in the mouth of a fish, where it drains blood from the tongue until it withers and dies. It attaches itself to the remaining stub and the fish is actually able to utilize it as a replacement tongue to draw in and manipulate food, which the parasite shares.

Link via Boing Boing