Wierd Parasite of the Fish

Oh, what animals do is never wrong. They don't have morality like we do. They can go into another environment and wipe out the native species and never be wrong. They are just doing what they do.
Odd that when we do it, its wrong, huh?
 
Orleander said:
Oh, what animals do is never wrong. They don't have morality like we do. They can go into another environment and wipe out the native species and never be wrong. They are just doing what they do.
Odd that when we do it, its wrong, huh?
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It is odd. But then, we are odd ourselves.. ;)
 
Orleander said:
wasn't the fish perfectly fine til it removed its tongue? It wouldn't die if it still had its tongue
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According to the wikipedia article in the OP, the fish remains perfectly fine after the loss of its tongue. The loss is not detrimental to the fish as it uses the parasite in place of its tongue. That’s what makes this so fascinating. :eek:

It extracts blood through the claws on its front, causing the tongue to atrophy from lack of blood. The parasite then replaces the fish's tongue by attaching its own body to the muscles of the tongue stub. The fish is able to use the parasite just like a normal tongue. It appears that the parasite does not cause any other damage to the host fish.[1] Once C. exigua replaces the tongue, some feed on the host's blood and many others feed on fish mucus. This is the only known case of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ.[1]
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I guess the question is is this a parasite or is it a symbote, sure when its sucking the blood out of the tongue its acting parasitic but once the tongue is gone if it acts as the tongue its symbotic (especially if its just feeding off mucus)
 
chimpkin said:
Funny, that.



http://tnjn.com/2010/apr/16/hookworm-to-help-with-allergie/

So...histamine is a toxic chemical to human intestinal parasites. So these parasites seemed to have evolved a way to lower immune reactivity in the human host.

Therapeutic levels of hookworm infestation.

If they do any broad clinical trials in Houston, I am so there...
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I've heard about that! People are overly pure of parasites so the body's immune system works against itself. This guy had something with his immune system attacking so he purposely infested himself with hook worms.
 
Asguard said:
I guess the question is is this a parasite or is it a symbote, sure when its sucking the blood out of the tongue its acting parasitic but once the tongue is gone if it acts as the tongue its symbotic (especially if its just feeding off mucus)
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I agree it sounds like it turned symbotic! life is about co/existing.
 
birch said:
most parasites are harmful and it's no reciprocal relationship where the host benefits at all. in fact, there are horrific parasites. this one is an exception in that it doesn't seem to harm the fish.
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I don't know about that. There are alot of beneficial parasites we can find.

Lactobacilli in association with a vaginal epithelial cell (CDC).

There seems to be an equal amount of good symbiosis which are mutualist, or commensalism, but yeah there are equally amount of bad parasitic relationships.

however we can change that around ... like with e-coli and using it for beneficial gains.:D
 
We also have large numbers of viral infections via retrovirus that have become part of our species' DNA. That is a form of smybiosis, is it not, even if the virus is no longer reproducing independently, but instead via our sex organs?
 
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