Mucophagy

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Mucophagy means eating mucus. It can involve mucus from fish or invertebrates, and sometimes dried mucus in primates. Some organisms, like certain sea lice, feed on mucus and live on fish. Mucophages can also help clean other animals by feeding on mucus or on parasites attached to them. In another sense, some animals have a mucus-rich feeding organ that traps particles as water moves through, and the mucus containing the trapped food is swallowed. This is a brief overview of the concept.