Can anyone tell me what is on this fish's head?

[jray]

Took this picture in Roatan and noticed this fish has something on it's head. Does anyone know what it is? I thought I was just taking another picture of one of these fish and ended up with a cool "bug on the head" photo.

For a larger version of the picture, go here:

http://colliercentral.com/crabs/107_0795l.jpg

 

[Zept]

...it's a fish lice. Time to get the shampoo out, I suppose.

Z

 

[jray]

Seriously? A fish lice?

 

[Rooster]

It's a parasitic Isopod

 

[Scubaroo]

...that sucks!

 

[Dee]

Specifically
Cymothoid Isopods
Anilocra spp
Renocila spp

Order: Isopods
Family: Cymothoidae

They are not true parasites, do not feed on the hosts. Instead, single individuals or even mated pairs attach to the head region of reef fishes with several pairs of hook-like legs, where the scavenge specks of floating food from the water.

There's been 12 species from two genre classified in the Caribbean.

Gross looking little buggers, aren't they?

 

[jray]

Kinda looks like a baby lobster or a cockroach.

Thanks for the informative responses.

J

 

[drbill]

more like a pill or sow bug than a tiny lobster or cockroach. Isopods are dorso-ventrally flattened (meaning like someone had stepped on top of them). Some of them can dig in and hurt.

I wonder if this one could be considered a kleptoparasite, although it only really takes scraps of food rather than stealing the entire meal.

Dr. Bill

 

[docmartin]

what a timely thread. just saw one of these on a blue tang in the keys. i described it to the boat captain as a lobster tail sitting on a fish. he had no clue what i was talking about. i am glad to hear it is not an alien visitor about to replicate and take over the world.

 

[debcov]

yep...has the tail of a lobster. Does it bother the fish? Any way for the fish to get it off? I have never seen one of these...interesting!