But in fact, the tongue-eating louse is real and lives inside the mouths of fish - one of which was discovered recently by a shocked student in South Africa. 'This specific species of tongue eating louse only uses carpenters as their host and has eluded scientists for years. Each species of louse - with over 280 identified so far - appears to target just one species of fish. Once the louse has found a host fish of the right species, it swims through the fish's gills and makes itself at home. It is likely that, as with most parasite species, death of the host means the death of the parasite.

Source: Daily Mail May 11, 2021 09:42 UTC