A woman's mouth 'fell pregnant' with 12 baby squid after she bit into a parboiled portion of the cephalopod, a scientific journal has reported.
The 63-year-old woman was eating a piece of squid that though partially cooked, still had its internal organs intact. As the South Korean woman bit down, she felt a "pricking and foreign-body sensation" according to the paper, published in the Journal of Parasitology.
Although she immediately spat the squid out after experiencing "severe pain", doctors had to remove "twelve small, white spindle-shaped, bug-like organisms stuck in the mucous membrane of the tongue, cheek, and gingiva."
Because the bug-like organisms were identified along with a sperm sack, doctors identified them as "spermatophores," which are a bit like pods of squid semen.
Squid are sometimes served whole with all their organs intact, although rarely in Western cuisine.
Though similar cases have been reported before, the episode is slightly less horrifying than it might immediately appear. The spermatophores are not fully formed organisms, though they are complex, which is why they may be termed as such, according to science20.com. They are no baby squid eyes or legs or tentacles, as one might imagine.
However it undoubtedly sounds revolting. Another case of squid insemination was documented in December, after the patient had eaten raw seafood. This time the doctors noted that the biopsy showed that "the sperm bags of the squid had thrust into the squamous epithelium (inner lining) of the patient's hard palate (roof of the mouth).
"The remaining part of the raw squid consisted of the testis and the sperm bags. After removal of all stings, the pain reduced, and the wound healed in due course."
Raw seafood for lunch anyone? I thought not.