Bugs on bass and bluefish

[paco33]

My buddy caught this snapper the other day, and I wondered what the bug that was in its gills was. Does anyone have any idea?


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[dogfish]

Looks like some kind of isopod

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Isopods

Common hosts: Rockfish, surfperch, and especially bottom fish such as lingcod, cabezon and flatfish.
Habitat: Gill chamber and mouth.
Description: These crustaceans, distant relatives of the garden pillbugs, range from 1/8" to more than an inch long. Their body is whitish and they have two small black eyes. The main part of their body is divided into seven segments, each of which has a leg attached on each side. The legs are armed with sharp sickle-shaped tips which help the isopod attach to its host. These sharp appendages also are responsible for many of the "bites" suffered by unwary collectors. The next five smaller, partly fused segments are the abdomen, followed by the tail.

In most isopods the sexes are separate and relatively easy to tell apart. The males tend to be smaller than the females and have no eggs under their abdomen. Some isopods display a phenomenon known as protandrous hermaphroditism (being a male when young and then developing into a female).

This process begins when the young parasite, then a male, attaches to the host. In time the male will become a female, develop a brood pouch and produce eggs. If however, there is a female already present on the host when the young male first arrives, the male's development into a female may be delayed or it may remain a male as long as the female stays on that host. In Icelandic sagas these parasites are called "Peters' Stone". A dried isopod was worn as a charm or powdered and taken as a remedy. Isopods living in the gill chamber may graze on the gill filaments or cause skin lesions.

Treatment: Remove the isopod and handle the fish as usual.

[albiealert]

I think the term is Cymothoa exigua, a kind of a louse. These are not to be confused to the sea lice which are on the outside of fish fresh from the ocean. This louse attaches itself to the tongue or gills. It's pretty creepy. The fish can't get rid of it until it dies.

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This guy made a cartoon out of it!
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[albiealert]

Here is another one, I'm glad we humans don't have to deal with them.
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