World's most beautiful creature…

hishadow

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… when it comes to evolution.

It was reported in a BBC article about a parasite that uses fish as hosts.

parasite-fish.jpg


:rolleyes:
Now that's intelligent design! :lol: The parasite (an isopod) apparenty enters the gills of the fish, then attaches itself to the blodveins around the tongue. As it grows, the tongue slowly wither away and the parasite replaces it.
 
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It's a cranky parasite.

Mr Chambers added: "It doesn't affect humans other than if you do actually come across a live one and try and pick it up - they are quite vicious, they will deliver a good nip."

I think it's sorta cute. Even has a little smile on its face. :D
 
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What I don't understand is how the host survives if it has a nasty little creature that's eaten it's tongue in the middle of it's mouth as all it's food goes in. Doesn't it starve? This kind of thing would give me nightmares if I thought about it too long. ;)
 
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I was going to get sushi for lunch today.

Now I am not.
 
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I was going to get sushi for lunch today.

Now I am not.

The really bad thing is that if this thing spreads, there will be no more fish-tongue for supper.

Honestly: Fried tongues of cod is a traditional course in the northern parts of Norway. I've eaten it, it's quite tasty. Don't think any of it looked like this one... hmmm... no, I'm positive, I haven't eaten anything looking like that.
 
that is pretty grody.

Tho i think a cool thread would be to try and one-up each other w/ pics of the most beautiful creature (not a man or woman!) on earth.
 
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If I caught a fish like that, opened its mouth and saw that thing I would probably seriously freak out! o_o

So, the parasite actually functions as the fish's tongue? That's kinda interesting. Disgusting, but interesting.
 
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If I caught a fish like that, opened its mouth and saw that thing I would probably seriously freak out! o_o

So, the parasite actually functions as the fish's tongue? That's kinda interesting. Disgusting, but interesting.

Quite a lot of interesting things are disgusting.
 
What I don't understand is how the host survives if it has a nasty little creature that's eaten it's tongue in the middle of it's mouth as all it's food goes in. Doesn't it starve? This kind of thing would give me nightmares if I thought about it too long. ;)

The parasite only feeds on the fish's blood. I guess it leaves room for the fish to eat. That thing is so weird. I never heard of anything that replaced a tongue before and lived happily in your mouth.

Did anyone catch the dentures on that fish? I swear it looks like the fish is wearing my granpa's dentures with a little smiling thing in it's mouth. Nature is so weird sometimes.
 
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The parasite only feeds on the fish's blood. I guess it leaves room for the fish to eat. That thing is so weird. I never heard of anything that replaced a tongue before and lived happily in your mouth.

Did anyone catch the dentures on that fish? I swear it looks like the fish is wearing my granpa's dentures with a little smiling thing in it's mouth. Nature is so weird sometimes.

Talked to your grandpa lately?
 
Talked to him just last week. He isn't missing his dentures ;)

Here is my entry for the world's most beautiful creature:
Blobfish.jpg
 
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... Another reason to become / stay a vegetarian ...
 
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Haha, I love all your tongue-in-cheek responses. It does look a bit cute though, doesn't it? The blobfish must be what Jabba looked like as a kid.

I got an entry for this thread, too. An exemplary example of the mighty afroduck. All hail.

afroduckpick.jpg
 
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… Another reason to become / stay a vegetarian …

Might want to take a look at this: Disgusting plants. Unfortunately I can't find any images.

But apparently it's part of a series, according to Amazon: "From lizards that shoot blood from their eyes to giant flowers that smell like rotting flesh, this series uncovers the ugly, gross, and disgusting world around us"

I can't wait!!!!
 
You wonder what a parasite does with his whole day? I mean he doesn't go anywhere, do anything other than have an occasional snack of some fish blood or fish mucas. What about the rest of the day? I swear he does look like a happy isopod, so maby he practices his stand up comedy. The accoustics in a fish's mouth must be pretty good ;)

I love the afro duck. He doesn't even seem to mind the little comb in his hair. Maybe he's thinking "Finally, an accessory that goes with my look!"
 
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Hey, that's racist! ;)
Not so! At least I hope it's not. Is it the color? There are white afroducks too. Or is it the afro? If there's one thing animes have taught me, it's that mystic powers are bestowed upon whoever sports an enormous afro like that and they should be revered.

There was a great article on wikipedia about afros once, but it's been split and some things seem to be missing now …
 
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