Just read a story via Good Morning America and Yahoo News:
https://gma.yahoo.com/terrifying-parasites-turn-shrimp-zombies-eat-young-210355210--abc-news-health.html
(The picture is from the above website link via ABC News.)
This is a species of Irish shrimp, Gammarus duebeni. An article abstract I found stated that these little buggers have a tendency towards cannibalism. Awesome.....unless you're another G. duebeni. (http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1660?sid=21106162206183&uid=2&uid=4&uid=2129&uid=70)
According to the article via the first link above, these guys get infected with a parasite that causes them to go nuts and eat their babies.
Now, a brief detour......
I don't eat any seafood. None. Zip. Zilch. I can't stand the smell or texture. I don't mind, however, working doing food prep for an aquarium (did that, really). I never can understand why eating these little buggers (or their 'brethren' at any rate) is so appealing. Shrimp eat basically whatever they can find - yummy dead fish, yummy dead fish skin, yummy whatever drifts down to the bottom. Yum, yum, yum! Yes, many would say that they are a relatively healthy choice, but when I see people munch straight into them I think, "You realize you're eating their digestive system (ie the poop track)." That's right - that little black slimy line through the middle? That's the digestive tack or the 'poop track'. Yummy right? You should 'de-vein' them (ie remove the poop track) if you're going to enjoy munching on these little buggers.
So back to the eating of their babies.....
I have a degree in Marine Biology. Knowing who's eating whom down in the ocean is like knowing the not so delicious details of a horror movie. Fascinating to know all about the critters under the ocean, but I'll pass on the seafood buffet and the possibility that I'm dining on someone who ate their children. But go ahead, you enjoy!
Peace.
https://gma.yahoo.com/terrifying-parasites-turn-shrimp-zombies-eat-young-210355210--abc-news-health.html
(The picture is from the above website link via ABC News.)
This is a species of Irish shrimp, Gammarus duebeni. An article abstract I found stated that these little buggers have a tendency towards cannibalism. Awesome.....unless you're another G. duebeni. (http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1660?sid=21106162206183&uid=2&uid=4&uid=2129&uid=70)
According to the article via the first link above, these guys get infected with a parasite that causes them to go nuts and eat their babies.
Now, a brief detour......
I don't eat any seafood. None. Zip. Zilch. I can't stand the smell or texture. I don't mind, however, working doing food prep for an aquarium (did that, really). I never can understand why eating these little buggers (or their 'brethren' at any rate) is so appealing. Shrimp eat basically whatever they can find - yummy dead fish, yummy dead fish skin, yummy whatever drifts down to the bottom. Yum, yum, yum! Yes, many would say that they are a relatively healthy choice, but when I see people munch straight into them I think, "You realize you're eating their digestive system (ie the poop track)." That's right - that little black slimy line through the middle? That's the digestive tack or the 'poop track'. Yummy right? You should 'de-vein' them (ie remove the poop track) if you're going to enjoy munching on these little buggers.
So back to the eating of their babies.....
I have a degree in Marine Biology. Knowing who's eating whom down in the ocean is like knowing the not so delicious details of a horror movie. Fascinating to know all about the critters under the ocean, but I'll pass on the seafood buffet and the possibility that I'm dining on someone who ate their children. But go ahead, you enjoy!
Peace.
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Be peaceful and respectful.