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Expert: Woman found parasite that eats fish tongues in tuna can

Posted at 6:04 PM, Feb 06, 2015
and last updated 2015-02-06 18:04:53-05

ARNOLD, UK – Imagine opening up a can of tuna and finding a “sea creature” inside. Zoe Butler, 28, says that when she saw something looking back at her when she opened the container.

“I opened the top of the lid and saw a purply thing, a gut sack or intestine – then I turned it round and pushed it with a fork and saw it looking back at me,” Butler told The Nottingham Post. “It’s got like a spiny tail along the bottom – it’s quite grim.”

Her grandmother said, “We did manage to ascertain that it was dead.

Butler sent pictures of the creature to the tuna company, Princes. She says she doesn’t want anything from the tuna company. She just wants to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

An expert previously told the Post that the creature appeared to be a juvenile crab. However, The Telegraphreports that scientists now say the tiny creature is the head of a Cymothoa exigua, which is a parasitic louse that eats the tounges of fishes.