As internet mysteries go, Paris Hilton #breastgate is a bit less vomit-inducting than #tunagate and the effort to figure out what exactly was in Zoe Butler’s can of Princes Tuna, but it’s still awfully transfixing and now we have an answer — our second one of the day.
Earlier, the Natural History Museum had identified the little beady-eyed monster as a parasite that gets its jollies by eating tongues.
The Natural History Museum said that the head probably belonged to a Cymothoa exigua, or tongue-eating louse. The parasite lives inside a fish, entering through its gills and attaching itself to its host’s tongue.
Adorable. But since the Natural History Museum didn’t have the body, this was only a theory. Who has the body? Top men! And by that I mean experts affiliated with Princes Tuna, and they have come to the conclusion that the mystery creature is… a crab.
Following an investigation, Princes contacted Mrs Butler and revealed it was a Megalopa – a very small immature crab.
The creature is preyed upon by tuna and according to Princes represents no food safety risk.
Not quite as sexy as an alien or a tongue obliterating parasite, but I’m good with this answer and even better with the fact that none of us ever have to look at this…
Ever again.
(Source: Nottingham Post, Telegraph)