science bytes
ouch! an isopod grabbed my tongue!
Biting your tongue takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to these parasites, says marine biologist Melissa Beata Martin.
Imagine yourself as a Common Jack Mackerel, swimming peacefully along the coast of New South Wales. Then, out of nowhere, an alien-looking crustacean enters your mouth through your gills, gets hold of your tongue and won’t let go. Slowly it sucks away the blood until it eventually becomes your tongue. You can’t remove it so you’re stuck with it – forever! For some fish, this is a nightmare that just got real. Those alien creatures exist, and they’re called tongue biters – parasites that live in the mouths of fishes.
“Some species have lost functional eyes, since there’s no need to ‘look around’ once they are attached” Above This tongue biter in the genus Ceratothoa is around 15 mm long. Photo © Niel Bruce and Melissa Martin.
Opposite Ceratothoa sp. from the mouth of a Yellowtail Scad, Trachurus novaezelandiae. Photo © Megan Stride and Barbara Nowak.
Explore 35(1) Autumn/Winter 2013
Page 16
Tongue biters in Australia
I first became interested in tongue biters in my early years as a marine biologist when I took a course in marine parasitology. It was in this class that I saw my first tongue biter, and it was love at first sight. I was lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship from the Malaysian government to do a four-year research degree at the National Centre for Marine Conservation and Resource Sustainability and Museum of Tropical Queensland. My research aims to review the taxonomy (classification, or defining organisms according to shared characteristics) of tongue biters in Australia.
