can anyone name these parasites?

[unholybeast143]

i've caught bass in 2 different lakes in kalkaska county with these parasites in them. log lake (off 612 right near kalkaska) and east lake (on spencer road about 7 miles south of kalkaska). i've noticed black spot parasites in east lake, but i know they are harmless to humans..these worms i'm not sure of.
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[davetclown]

I am not fond of knowingly eating any kind of parisite.

the key thing to remember when prepairing fish,

Freezing solid and then cooking to a internal temp of 165 degrees will take care of just about every thing except toxins and botchulism.

Just dont tell me about seeing it before serving, and above all, make sure the fish is well done prior to serving.[cool] If I get a mouth full of raw fish, I am going to gag and upchuck....
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[lonehunter]

Occasionally anglers catch fish with black, pinhead size spots which cause the fish to have a peppered appearance, or a fish may be caught which has white to yellow colored grubs under the skin of in the flesh. Yellow perch taken from the shallower waters of the Great Lakes often contain red worms coiled within the body cavity. All these conditions are caused by common fish parasites. Fish with these parasites are safe to eat, as all these (and any other parasites) are killed by cooking. Black Spot and yellow grub parasites are most common in bass, sunfish (all species), and northern pike, and red worm is specific to yellow perch. These and related parasites may be found in other species of fish as well.
Yellow Grub

CLINOSTOMUM (TREMATODA)
This is the common "grub" found in our freshwater fish as a yellow worm up to 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) long just under the skin, or in the flesh. Yellow grub has been reported from so many kinds of freshwater fish in North America that apparently no fish is immune to it. The grub is the larval stage which must be eaten by fish eating birds, such as herons and bitterns, to develop. The grub matures in the throat of the bird, and eggs wash into the water from the bird's mouth when feeding. The eggs hatch and the first larval stage (miracidia) swim by means of fine hair like cilia until they find a snail of the genus Helisoma. Unless they find this snail they die within several hours. In the snail they go through several developmental stages during which they multiply a thousand fold, finally leaving the snail as free swimming cercariae. Unless the cercariae find a fish within a few hours, they die. When they find a fish, they burrow through the skin and encyst, where they develop into metacercariae, which are the yellow grubs. There they remain until eaten by the bird host, thus completing the life cycle.



Yellow grubs beneath the skin of the tail of a yellow perch

The grubs may live for several years in the fish, thus in many lakes rather heavy infestations accumulate and the fish are classed by fishermen as unfit for food. It is possible that yellow grub may kill fish under some circumstances, but normaly a fish is not noticeably affected by the parasite.



A perch with filet removed to show the yellow grubs in the flesh. Note that some of the worms were encysted during filleting, and have assumed an elongated form more commonly associated with a "worm"

Normal cooking of the fish destroys the grub and the flavor of the fish is not altered.
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[unholybeast143]

thank you. makes perfect sense, too. i've seen herons and loons on both lakes, so now i know how they've been spread. i've also seen herons on a couple of my other favorite little lakes, so i expect i'll be seeing more of the little yellow suckers.

i always remove any visible parasites (except for black spot....too many of the tiny damn things to worry about) and cook fish properly, but i wouldn't let the wife or kids eat the one's i had taken the grubs out of until i knew what they were. (i'll still never tell the wife they were in there...she wouldn't let me in the house, let alone the fish!)
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[lonehunter]

No problem , I have had a few run ins with some odd things too .
I cought a snapper in Manistee that had armor plated leeches on it .
A few years ago I harvested a deer that was so far gone with parasites that I bagged the whole thing up and turned it in to the DNR , I recived a 25 page report on all the bugs in it . Safe or not I wasen't eating that thing , the gutpile had so many in it you could see it move , puss in the backstraps , , not me !
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[davetclown]

my nephew brought one home like that a few years ago, I swear it was gan green, I mean the puss was realy green....

needless to say, I pulled the dumpster under it, cut the rope and dropped it in, and boiled and bleached the knives.
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