Have you ever felt lonely and wished for a friend who could always be with you? Cymothoa exigua, AKA tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod (a relative of woodlice) which enters fish through the gills and severs the blood vessels in the fish’s tongue, causing the tongue to fall off. It then attaches itself to the remaining stub of the tongue and becomes the fish’s new tongue! This is the only known case of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ.
If that sounds a bit too gruesome to you, don’t worry, they are not dangerous to humans at all and evidence suggests the fish are not actually that bothered by them. I like to think of them more as inseparable best friends…
Cymothoa exigua can be found in parts of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and parasitizes a few different species of fish, such as red snappers. While I have tried to make the isopod design as accurate to reality as possible, the fish is of a more generic design rather than being intended to represent a specific species. I was mostly inspired by catfish and goldfish, although as far as I know C. exigua does not parasitize either of them.

Feel free to sell any items you make with this pattern, but please credit me as the designer.
The isopod measures 13cm long, 5cm wide
The fish measures 17cm long, 10cm wide.
I would describe the difficulty as moderate, most of the techniques are basic, though there are a few tricky instructions. I have tried to make any difficult sections as clear as possible with illustrations.

Supplies

1. 3.5mm crochet hook
2. Yarn needle
3. Fiberfill Stuffing
4. Small amount of black felt for isopod eyes (or they can be embroidered in black yarn).
5. DK Yarn in the following colours: For the Isopod • Golden yellow • Pale yellow For the Fish • Turquoise • Light green • Black • White

Notes
• Gauge, hook and yarn weight are not too important as long as you choose the right yarn weight for your hook and have a consistent gauge throughout.
• The instructions use standard American crochet terms.