Body snatchers

 Parasitic plastic surgeons: Body snatchers

Barnacle sacculina

The barnacle parasitises its host, a crab, and attaches itself to the crab's body till death does them apart. This master plastic surgeon is what's called a body snatching parasite. See the parasite attached to the crab below:
 
Hans Hillewaert, 2005
 
The parasitic barnacle is similar to another body snatching parasite, a toungue-eating louse, Cymothoa exigua. The parasite attaches itself to the fish's mouth and becomes it's new tongue.

Marco Vinci, 2013

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