Ok all you fish biologists.

[nsnutter]

Maybe they infect the meet on the large cats, and make the meat un-edible

hehe, subtle ... I like it! Way to slip that in there.

[Scott K]

I have notice these little critters on a couple of this fish I caught last night as well. Kinda makes me think, were they always on the fish, or is this something that is just starting to get worse in the MN River? I don't recall ever seeing them on the fish before?

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

One of us needs to bring a little jar and next time put a few in it with water and send it in for identification

[Scott K]

I took a couple pictures, although this is the one that came out the best.

[ec30_06]

fish lice. We caught a channel with them on wed. night.

[Scott K]

I hope no one can tell where I am fishing from the reflection off of the fish

[Gordie]

LOL almost lost it on that one Scott

[DTro]

I have to admit, you made me look again

[GeneralLee]

All you guys with these big "cats" makes me rethink my approach to just focusing on "toothy critters". That just looks like serious fun. Nice fish...

The General

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Here's a couple of pics:

I'm going to have to guess Freshwater Jellyfish. Yes, there are freshwater jellyfish! Google it!

[nsnutter]

No kiddin! I had no idea that there were any freshwater medusa reported in the states, I thought they were only a Chinese thing. Holy smokes that's interesting!

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Well, upon further review, I think fish lice was the proper ID! My bad!

[Fazerfish]

I sent an email to the DNR Eden Prarie office and got a confirmation. Here is his reponse:

The other board posters are correct. This is the fish louse Argulus sp. The fish louse isn't rare or a new phenomenon in Minnesota waters, but I will say my field sampling experience has told me it's rarely found among typical lake/fish species mixes.

While heavy parasitism can affect the health of individual fish and could lead to some mortality, noticeably large population impacts caused by Argulus parasitism are unlikely. Parasitism is usually increased during periods of crowding and/or warm water temperatures. Adult flathead catfish have had to contend with more than parasites to reach the sizes they do.

Take your pick from images/sites re: this parasite:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=fish+louse+argulus&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

Taylor Polomis

Fisheries Management Specialist Intermediate MN-DNR Fisheries, West Metro Area Office Eden Prairie, MN

[DTro]

Thanks for checking on that, I was wondering myself.

The fish we caught on Sat had a bunch of those critters on it again.

[Scott K]

I too found several on the fish I caught this weekend.

[Morneau132]

I know this is the catfish forum... but wondering if anybody can tell me whats going on with this fish...

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

tumor