Friday Parasite #23: Birthday Parasite for PZ

It’s Friday. It’s time to look at a parasite. It’s also PZ Myers’ birthday. So what could be better than an cephalopod parasite in his honor?

             

This is Anilocra physodes. It's a parasitic isopod. It’s usually an ectoparasite of fish, much like sea lice, but it’s also found inside the mantle cavity of European squid. Must be itchy.

Source: Gestal, C., P. Belcarf, E. Abollo and S. Pascual 1999. Parasites of cephalopods in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea (western Mediterranean): new host records and host specificity. Sci. Mar. 63: 39-43.