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In case you need a little more nightmare fuel, scientists have been studying a fish eyeball parasite.
Diplostomum pseudospathaceum
infects a fish's eye as a larva. While the larva grows, it causes the
fish to swim slower than usual, which protects both the fish and the
parasite from predators. But when the larva is mature, it makes the fish
swim faster and closer to the water's surface. That's so the fish will
be eaten by a bird!
The eye fluke Diplostomum
pseudospathaceum has a life cycle that takes place in three different
types of animal. First, parasites mate in a bird’s digestive tract,
shedding their eggs in its faeces. The eggs hatch in the water into
larvae that seek out freshwater snails to infect. They grow and multiply
inside the snails before being released into the water, ready to track
down their next host, fish. The parasites then penetrate the skin of
fish, and travel to the lens of the eye to hide out and grow. The fish
then get eaten by a bird – and the cycle starts again.
The current research is about fish eyes that contain both mature and immature parasites. How do those fish act?
Read about Diplostomum pseudospathaceum at New Scientist.
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