Parasitic mussel lures

[scythemantis]

These are not fish. These are the egg cases of a freshwater mussel whose microscopic larvae are temporary parasites/hitchhikers of fish. The egg cases attach to rocks, wave in the current until bitten by something, then squirt the parasites out through their false eyes.





Here's another mussel that just grows a fake fish out of its own body. Beneath its two halves is the brood sack, packed with larvae.

There are many more methods by which ordinary, everyday river mussels infest fish with their offspring, all of them at least this weird.

http://bogleech.com/bio-clampirism.html

I Just put up an article on the subject, but it's really just a super-condensed version of this website entirely devoted to these freaky life cycles:

http://unionid.missouristate.edu/

They have a BIG gallery, videos and more!

Wikipedia claims that these larvae were only falsely considered parasites until they were found to be "harmless," but I'm not sure I buy it. Harmlessness is not the measurement of parasitism.