The strangest parasites in the animal world

On Earth, there are many strange parasites and they can become nightmares for their hosts.

Top 10 weirdest parasites in the world

1. Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is a brain parasite spread through cat feces that can be transmitted to humans. It can cause humans to over-care cats to become infected and cause a number of neurological disorders.

Found globally, Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is known to affect 50-80% of the population at some point in time according to serological studies. In France, the highest concentration of infected people (84%). It can affect all warm-blooded animals but can only multiply through cats.

This deadly parasite is known to cause the same changes in the human mind as it does in mice. When the mice became infected after ingesting oocytes (child of the parasite) shed in the cat's feces, the parasite made them more reckless, slower, and prey. easy for cats. Worse still, when infected with this parasite, the rats were attracted to the smell of the cat. Even humans, when infected, find the smell of cat urine 'pleasant' more than uninfected people.

In humans, this parasite can cause a number of pathological behavioral changes and serious neurological disorders such as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, aggression, and bipolar disorder. In healthy people it causes mild flu-like symptoms, but in infants and patients with weakened immunity it can cause an illness called 'toxoplasmosis' which can be fatal . It also makes people love and care for their cats more than usual, and that's why toxoplasmosis has been nicknamed the 'Crazy Cat Lady Syndrome'. It could be a reason why some people obsess about cats.

2. Cymothoa exigua

Cymothoa exigua is a parasite that specializes in cutting the blood vessels of the fish's tongue and becoming a new functional tongue on its own. It is the only known parasite capable of displacing an entire organ in the host's body.

Also known as 'tongue lice', Cymothoa exigua (C. exigua) enters the fish's body through its gills. Males cling to the dome below the fish's gills and females to the fish's tongue. This 8-29 mm long parasite will sever the blood vessels of the fish's tongue causing it to atrophy due to anemia, eventually causing it to fall out of its mouth. C. exigua then becomes the fish's new tongue, which feeds on the blood and mucus of the fish to survive. When the fish dies, it will detach itself and attach itself to the outside of the fish's body.

What happens to the parasites after that has not been observed so far. Another striking feature of this parasite is that in addition to being the only known species to replace the entire host's organs, it also possesses the ability to self-gender - males can can turn into a female when it is 10 mm long.

Found in waters south of the Gulf of California to the north of the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador, this parasite is also found in Atlantic waters. C. exigua is not currently considered harmful to humans.

3. Phronima

Phronima is a parasite that looks like the aliens from the movie Alien (in fact, the aliens are inspired by a transparent deep-sea parasite that feeds on living creatures). other animals inside and out and then take over their bodies to lay eggs).

Phronima is the parasite that adds weight to the saying "truth is stranger than fiction". In fact, this parasite has inspired many fictional characters in movies - extraterrestrial species, villains in the Alien series.

Phronima is found in all oceans of the world except the polar regions. Females often attack salps (a species of zooplankton), then use their claws to eat the animal, forming a hole in the body of the ill-fated animal. It then enters its prey's hollow barrel-like body and swims across the water using it as a means of transport. The female then lays eggs and nourishes the larvae right inside the host's body. Phronima's specific features are so far poorly understood as it needs to be studied while alive (which is very difficult), so this aspect of Phronima's life remains a mystery to science.

4. Spinochordodes tellinii

Spinochordos tellinii is a parasitic worm that develops in the body of a grasshopper, when fully mature it will cause the grasshopper to jump into the water and cause it to drown.

Spinochordodes tellinii (S. tellinii) is one of the parasitic worms that can grow to be 3-4 times longer than the host grasshopper, entering the host's body as larvae through the oral route. Finally, receiving nutrients from grasshoppers and crickets, they will evolve to control host behavior. They cause grasshoppers to jump into a body of water and drown. It does this so that it can leave the body of the grasshopper and breed in the water.

5. Naegleria fowleri

Naegleria fowleri is a freshwater parasite that can enter the human brain through the nasal cavity while swimming in freshwater or unsanitary pools. This parasite will destroy human brain tissue and has a mortality rate of 97%.

Known as the 'brain-eating amoeba', Naegleria fowleri is a creature that will make you think twice before jumping into the water for a swim. Found in freshwater lakes and rivers, or in poorly sanitized swimming pools, this parasite usually targets children and adolescents.

Once infected, the chance of survival is only 3%. It causes brain swelling and causes 'primary meningococcal meningitis', which within a few days can be fatal. However, these parasitic infections are rare and in some cases can still be treated. Only 34 cases were reported in the United States from 2004-2014. Scientists fear that climate change could help the parasite thrive because it thrives in warm waters.

Naegleria fowleri can only enter the human body when water enters the inside of the nasal cavity. It goes deep into the olfactory nerve that leads directly to the brain. Using its suction cup-like structures, it feeds on brain tissue that gives rise to the first symptoms of infection - loss of smell and taste.

As the infection progresses, it can cause hallucinations, seizures, and confusion. As the body fights off the infection, it causes inflammation and extreme pressure on the skull, pushing the brain downwards, severing the connection with the spinal cord, causing death.

6. Acanthocephala

Acanthocephala is a parasite that causes the host to self-destruct, when entering the host's body, they will "stimulate" and force the host to swim to the surface so that they are eaten by ducks.

Also known as 'thorn-head worms', Acanthocephala have sharp spines on their ends, which help them penetrate the intestinal wall of the host. Their life cycle is complex and involves at least two hosts which can be mammals, fish, birds or amphibians. They begin their life cycle by taking over the bodies of vertebrates living in marine or freshwater areas.

Once infected, the parasite affects the host's behavior and causes the host to be attracted to the light and swim to the surface. And when the host is eaten by the duck, they will continue to thrive and continue their life cycle in the duck's body.

The next host excretes the eggs of the parasite in its feces, which are then ingested by another crustacean or arthropod. It develops while in the body of an intermediate host and matures and mates in the body of its final host (duck).

7. Pleistophora mulleri

Pleistophora mulleri is a parasite that causes shrimp to eat more cannibals, greatly increasing their cannibalism and making it take less time for them to consume their prey.

This parasite can cause the native shrimp - Gammarus dobeni celticus to eat its own cannibals more than they normally would. The researchers have found that the parasite significantly increases the bad traits of native shrimp and also makes them more voracious and consumes prey in a much shorter time than other shrimp. child is not infected.

8. Nycteribiidae and Streblidae

Nycteribiidae and Streblidae are two families of terrifying parasites, bugs that attach to the head of a bat and suck its blood.

If you think bloodsucking bats are a scary animal, the parasites we talk about below are much more terrifying. There are about 275 species in the family Nycteribiidae and 225 species in the family Streblidae that feed on bats. Bat flies of the family Nycterbiidae have no wings and have a spider-like appearance, while those of the family Streblidae have wings and can fly. These batflies, which have evolved over millions of years, spend their entire lives clinging to the bodies of bats, especially their feathers and wings. Researchers believe that 20 million years before these flies evolved, they consumed the sweat, droppings and dead skin of bats. And because they're blood-sucking parasites, they'll obviously starve to death when separated from their host - just two days after separating from the bat's body, they'll die.

9. Ribeiroia ondatrae

Ribeiroia ondatrae is one of the most terrible parasites on the planet. It would have left infected frogs with a number of defects such as many legs protruding at odd angles and affected their ability to move, putting them at risk from predators.

As a flatworm parasite, Ribeiroia ondatrae usually infects the inside of frogs while they are still developing limbs and leads to a number of defects in amphibians such as the absence of legs or multiple amphibians. Legs pop out in odd positions on the body.

This makes it difficult for the frog to move around and is easily eaten by predators. This parasite is a serious threat because it is constantly on the move, and can also inhabit areas where endangered or threatened species form habitats. Scientists have been trying to predict where these malformed parasites might exist to prevent further harm to the animals.

The life cycle of this parasite begins with a giant snail, where it clones itself, turning the snail into a "parasite machine". Hundreds of parasites are released by snails every night in search of a second host, tadpoles. The tadpole grows up to be a crippled frog and is quickly eaten by birds. The birds are the third host. The parasite reproduces inside the bird, the eggs are released in the bird's droppings, and the cycle repeats.

10. Diplostomum pseudospathaceum

Diplostomum pseudospathaceum is a parasite that lives inside the eyeballs of fish and controls their behavior. When young, this parasite will protect the fish. But when it grows up, they will find ways to kill their host.

Diplostomum pseudospathaceum is a parasite that changes its host's behavior to suit its needs. Starting their life cycle with a snail, the parasite then finds its way into the fish's eyeball by piercing the fish's skin in the water and hiding until adulthood.

As a child, it protects the fish so that they can grow, but as an adult, it will do everything to catch the fish to change its movement behavior and be eaten by birds so that its life cycle continues inside the body. bird body. The parasites mate in the digestive tract of birds and their eggs are excreted in the feces like many other parasites.

In a 2015 study, it was revealed that fish infected with juvenile parasites swim slower than uninfected ones making them less visible to prey. It was also found that fish infected with adult parasites swam much more actively than uninfected fish.