In a style reminiscent of the Big Bad Wolf versus poor granny, Cymothoa exigua eats its victim’s tongue and then parades around in the fish’s mouth pretending to be the tongue it just ate (via PBS). Is this crafty parasite fooling anyone? Well, take a look at the cover photo again, because there it is, inside the mouth of an Anemone.

This haunting procedure begins in the gills, where the parasite first nestles and waits (via Futurism). Over a course of time, the parasite matures and transitions, first from male to female and then again from gill to tongue. Shockingly or sadly, depending on how you view this routine, the fish does not die. Rather, it lives on with a living prosthetic tongue.

The odd symbiotic relationship between fish and parasite continues, and more parasites gather in the fish’s gills. The parasites in the gills are male, and the parasite pretending to be the tongue has now transformed into a female. In a horrifying turn of events, male and female parasites now perform coitus in the victim fish’s mouth, and baby parasites are spawned as a result. This cycle goes on for the duration of the victim’s life.