#tongue louse

[darksilvania]

PARASCYLLA sketches for "Mermay" on twitter

I asked my followers if they would lend me their fish pokemons for my PARASCYLLA to turn into tails and this are some of them so far, I will make some more as there are still a lot of interesting ones, so expect a part 2

The fishies belong to: @StarlyCactus, @the_aussie_artist(IG), @Artsyboi_Sketch, @BanannerToast, @Mett_Moir, @Riceputtin2, @LukexxrayDraws, @zimmlyy and @NasoSamuele

[g0nefischin]

MERSKELES PART 3!

Definitely not mermay anymore but here's the last 3 sirens I wanted to do

and some explanation on why I choose what I did under the cut

(little warning for parasites on fresh's section)

So from left to right

Dream is a golden colored koi carp fish, I picked it because they are very pretty and they represent a lot of positive things like luck and fortune, some people even wish on them to make their dreams come true :> I also thought of the legend where a golden koi fish climbs a large waterfall to turn into a dragon, so they have some mythical legends as well. In terms of the actual fish, Koi are very sociable and sturdy, they also live for quite awhile.

Nightmare is a coelacanth, he should probably be an octopus considering he has tentacles, but I really wanted to make him a coelacanth because I think they are neat. Coelacanth's are very old with the latest fossils being over 400 million years old, they were thought to be extinct until one was found in 1938, grandpa nightmare. They are also nocturnal, sleeping in caves during the day, they live deep in the ocean as well. 

Fresh is actually a two in one, he is a rainbow parrotfish with a tongue-eating louse in his mouth. Out of alI the bright fish I did a parrotfish because I really like their gradients, and I think the magenta fins fit his jacket. He's a parasite inside of a Sans body, so I picked a fish parasite to go along with the fish half of his body. I chose the tongue-eating louse, a type of parasite that replaces a fish's tongue. It first severs the blood vessels to the tongue and once it falls off takes its place. feeding on nutrients and acting as a new tongue for the rest of the fish's life, very cool and terrifying.

[krillgarden]

cymothoa exigua + clione limacina girls night

[heedra]

i was at a powerpoint party toniite and my presentation was on four different crustaceans that have evolved to be specialized parasites ranked from least to most extreme and i realized minutes before it was my turn that i should probably have a disclaimer slide before getting into the actual photos so this is what i hastily threw together

[peachysuffolk]

Tongue-Eating Louse bugsona idea I had buzzin around for a couple of days (^w^

[likopinina]

Isopod video game.

Video game in which you are an isopod.

Isop0dyssey (Isopod Odyssey) is currently the only tongue-eating louse racing game available on the market. Do not miss this chance and wishlist on Steam (now) and take part in demo testing (coming soon)

Reblog

[weirdanimal-tournament]

Round 2 Match 14

Tongue Eating Louse: "Little isopod looking crustacean that eats a fish's tongue than masquerades as its missing tongue, eating all its food."

Golden Mole: "eyeless behaviour. no eyed FREAK"

[crimy-truly]

Lambsona!!!

Piccrew by @jobycewl

Wait... whats in their mouth?

The damn isopod strikes again

[intertexts]

so in that post u see how it looks like there are two little eyes peeking out of the clownfish's mouth. that's bc they are eyes. tongue eating louse eyes to be specific

they are !!!! a species of isopod that is EXTREMELY parasitic, they do exactly what their name implies.

this is a female and a male, the female is the big one the male is the tiny one. as larvae they are free swimming and essentially sexless, once they've chosen a host fish one will attach to the tongue and the other will attach to the gills. the one on the gills becomes a male and the one on the tongue becomes a female. dunno why, their reproductive cycle has not been studied much! but!!! the female will sever the blood vessels to the fish's tongue and it'll basically just rot and fall off (they don't actually eat it!!)

this pic is blurry as hell and I'm pretty sure also in german? but it's a good visual

what they do is PHYSICALLY ATTACH THEMSELVES TO THE MUSCLES OF THE REMAINING BITS OF THE TONGUE AND REPLACE IT. so it essentially. becomes the new tongue. now what happens to the fish from here on depends on the species, some will live off of the blood or mucus and the fish is . while not super healthy it doesn't actually outright die unless it has multiple of them . but i thiiiink other species will actually eat the food that the fish tries to eat so the fish will slowly starve to death which is more horrifying to me (<< take this with a grain of salt bc I may just be remembering horror media wrong. however.)

anyway. i love you tongue eating louse as a metaphor for codependency and parasitism as a form of fucked up relationships <3 what if you loved something so much you consumed a piece of it and became part of each other. or something like that. there's some good tumblr poetry about tongue eating lice but idk if I will be able to find it rn. trust me bro. it's on the same level as dendrogaster to me in terms of parasites I feel strong emotions about

WHATTT... OH MY GOD. THAT'S SO FUCKED UP???? THAT'S SO FUCKING COOL... oh my god... hi tongue eating louse ur so fucking cool. holy shit...

[moonlitcomet]

Tatsugiri's Inspiration

I feel like comparing tatsugiri to the tongue-eating louse is a really big stretch because there's a massive difference between that and the mutualistic relationship it has with dondozo. I'd be hard pressed to believe that was the inspiration and not mouthbrooding fish or even the cuckoo catfish.

Dondozo is clearly based on a catfish, which in some species are known to be mouth brooders, and carry their babies in their mouths. And Tatsugiri is a small fish creature with a large dewlap, known as the Mimicry Pokemon, resembling a sushi or even a baby fish.

Cuckoo catfish are obligate brood parasites of mouthbrooding cichlid fishes, putting their eggs in the brood of the cichlids and having their offspring outcompete and even eat the babies of the species they're parasitizing. Funny enough this is the only known example of nonavian obligate brood parasitism in vertebrates. [x]

[x]

Tatsugiri much more resembles these baby fish than a louse, even having very similar markings and its dewlap resembling the yolk of the fish.

[worrysomegus]

the the tongue eatomg louse

[onlineviolence]

soooo

[mothwithteeth]

Before anyone else uses a cuckoo for symbolism, please keep in mind they REPLACE the eggs of the host. They don't just lay an egg in a random nest without other babies bc they can't guarantee they'd be cared for if there aren't parents already tending eggs. If you're going to make a parasite analogy at least do a good one

[blurrymango]

There's my old art of a humanization of a tongue eating louse! I found it!

Based heavily on the vibes of the one from How Fish Is Made.

Made this art like. Last year I think.

[leavingautumn13]

new icon 😌

[weirdanimal-tournament]

Round 1 Match 27

Tongue Eating Louse: "Little isopod looking crustacean that eats a fish's tongue than masquerades as its missing tongue, eating all its food."

Spectral Bat: "Fun nose leaf! Largest bat in the Americas AND the largest carnivorous bat! Speaking of, one of the few carnivorous bats, mostly preying on birds and small mammals including other bats. They live in small family groups and the male will wrap his whole family in his wings"