We’ve been a little quiet for a few days and here’s why: This is the 7th wreck we have sunk on our housereef as well as concrete structures and some metal frames. Most is colonising well and we have some quite good sized corals growing on them. The reason for Read more…
We have made quite a few posts about this little beastie in the past, but we still get a lot of questions about this critter – in our most recent newsletter there was a picture of a False Clownfish with Cymothoa in the mouth… We even had a reply asking if it was a Denise Pygmy Seahorse being eaten, which just goes to show how many people come to Lembeh and miss out on this little guy.
Cymothoa are parasitic crustaceans which live inside the mouth and gills of fish. Cymothea exigua is famous for holding on to the tongue of the fish and eventually causing the tongue to atrophy through lack of blood, leading to the Cymothoa replacing the tongue. The fish continues to live a ‘normal’ life with a prosthetic Cymothoa tongue.
The above is the accepted academic description of what one of these little beasties is, however we have noticed that the tongue in the Clownfish does (more…)
So, after the English Football team got there ass (arse) whooped by Sweden last night I thought to myself ‘what would Bent do?’ The answer was not hard to find, as our favourite Swede/Dane hybrid loves parasites and all things small and disgusting. I headed out on a dive with Read more…
As already mentioned in previous blog posts there are many parasites here in Lembeh Strait that for example stick on the head or cheek of fishes. Another very common type of parasite is the tongue parasite (Tongue-Biter Cymathoid Isopod, Cymothoa exigua) that lives in the mouth of various fishes – mainly Read more…