Parasite in snapper blue's gills

[Monty]

Are the snappers still ok to eat?
Out of 50, 40 of them had them in their gills.

Grand kids and their father did the catching.

[finchaser]

Meat Men

[J Barbosa]

Pictures?

[Monty]

Pictures?
Hopefully tomorrow.

[surfstix1963]

I've seen leeches in their gills since I was a kid I'm still here.:HappyWave:Something like this.

[Monty]

I've seen leeches in their gills since I was a kid I'm still here.:HappyWave:Something like this.

Yes, something like that.
After some research it is an Isopod I do believe.
Should get a pic of it tonight.
Up to the size of a thumbnail I was told. You have seen them on snappers?

[voyager35]

Good pic SS. Here is some more info. Says they get destroyed by cooking and are not that harmful. I have mostly found gill lice on striped bass that we catch in the late summer to fall. Sea lice on fish in the spring that come into the bays from offshore. Next time I catch a bluefish I will have to check under the gills. I never thought of doing that with the blues as we toss most of them back unless going sharking.



Fish Lice /Gill Lice - What are they?



The gill lice (Ergasalis) are the most abundant and prevalent parasite of inland and coastal marine populations of striped bass. They are a parasitic copepod. Copepods are small, sometimes microscopic, invertebrates that are members of the plankton community. Heavy infestations of Ergasalis have occasionally been reported from the vicinities of Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Frequently anglers conclude that striped bass with these parasites on their gills are fish newly arrived from the ocean. Different species of Ergasalis may be specific to each species of fish. Ergasalis has been reported infecting largemouth bass and bluegill sunfish in freshwater lakes in Alabama. It has also been reported from striped bass in a freshwater lake where a heavy infestation may have caused sufficient stress for a bacterial disease to become established.

Other external parasites are occasionally observed on striped bass. Two other common external parasites are Argulus, the fish louse, which is another copepod like Ergasalis, and Lironeca, an isopod.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/art2002/argulus.jpgArgulus, the fish louse, is small, round and flattened. It is found on the skin and scales of striped bass http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/art2002/argulusOhiostate.gif


Any concerns regarding human consumption of normal appearing fish can be addressed by proper cooking. Any disease or parasite will be killed during the normal cooking process.

This does not apply to shellfish caught from areas closed due to pollution, or to finfish which are under consumption advisories because of tissue contamination. Common sense should be applied, and any abnormal appearing fish should not be eaten.


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?2580-fish-parasites

[storminsteve]

Meat Men

haha monty the meat man good one finchaser! rofl

[Monty]

Here are the actual pics.
Kinda crazy that out of the 50 snappers, 40 had them in their gills.
5 people caught them.


18667

18668

[bababooey]

Should have taken them, fried them up in a pan with oil and hot sauce. Eaten them fear factor style.:upck:

[ledhead36]

I have seen them in blues and other fish. They are nasty but don't harm the fish as was said.

[vpass]

Very common always see them in snappers for many year that I've been fishing.