A woman in Seoul, Korea was dinning on a semi-cooked squid when the cephalopod injected its sperm bag into her mouth.
The woman (who wants to remain anonymous) reported experiencing a “pricking and foreign-body sensation” while she chewed and spat the squid out. She sought emergency medical assistance when she felt severe pain and several “small, squirming” creepy crawlies in her mouth.
Doctors found that the squid had left “twelve small, white spindle-shaped, bug-like organisms” in the mucous membranes of her tongue and cheek.
Researchers think that the squid’s sperm bags came out while the woman chewed her food. Squids have “sperm bags,” which are ejaculatory apparatuses that attach themselves to a female’s body before slowly secreting sperm.
When consuming raw squid, diners should remove their internal organs, or boil the tasty treat long enough to kill its sperm bags, researchers warn cooks and consumers
The research was published by the American Society of Parasitologists in the Journal of Parasitology.
