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Parasite question.

4K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  GreenPlanet 
#1 ·
I was wondering if anybody has herd of a parasite/fish from South America that is attracted to your urine ? I was told from a friend that there is such a thing. Is this true?


Thank You
 
#3 ·
What you're probably thinking of is Candiru (Siluriformes: Trichomyteridae).
It is said that urine attracts them, as they follow the stream of heavy ammonia and then can enter the body through various "openings".
Here is a link for you, and please note, this is a .edu link, meaning it's scientifically published online, not just someone's opinion or repeating something they heard from an unidentified/unprofessional source.

http://www.k-state.edu/parasitology/625tutorials/Candiru.html
 
#4 ·
bhone20 said:
I was wondering if anybody has herd of a parasite/fish from South America that is attracted to your urine ? I was told from a friend that there is such a thing. Is this true?


Thank You
Yes, it is one of the members of the Trichomycteridae family. They are called Candiru, and are translucent, parasitic, catfish. Most species follow the current of a fish's gill and lodge in them, sucking blood, while one or two species follow urine and lodge within the fish, again to 'eat' blood.

Dave
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Oh no!.no thank you>but thank you all for the painful information!!
 
#9 ·
Ahh! I keep switching back and forth between really wanting to visit the amazon and being completely freaked out by stuff like this. I'll probably visit, but not go in the water unless I have some sort of air/water/bite/electricity proof casing. Or I'll go "screw it, I wanna see some cool fish" and then come home very, very sick.

I was googling collecting freshwater fish yesterday and came across this:
http://www.dawnontheamazon.com/

Sry, getting way too off-topic now...
 
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