Ok - some folks (Anya included) will consider today's photo creepy or gross, but I still find it a fascinating part of the marine world.

This Coney (Cephalopholis fulva) has a Cymothoid Isopod (Anilocra sp.) attached to its face. What is most interesting is this is not a true parasite. The isopod does not actually feed on the tissue of the fish, but rather just hitches a ride and collects morsels of food that don't make it into the fish's mouth. Some fish will only have a single one of these hitchhikers on their face, while others have one on both sides. The single ones tend to be juveniles or females, while the unfortunate fish with two have a mated pair that will remain there for the remainder of their lifespans.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion and cropped in Photoshop CS5 (mouseover for original).

While the book says that they don't harm the fish, you can definitely see how this one is starting to give this coney a bit of an "Elvis lip".

- Bill