BLACK SPOTS ON SUNFISH

[CLOUDYBOY]

was out fishing yesterday and caught some nice gills and some kepper crappies.but when i started to clean the fish i noticed the gills had black spot on the meat and crappies didin't have any.my ? is are the sunfish safe to eat and what are they?

[Gissert]

The gills in our lake have those spots, too. They are parasites of some type, or so I am told.

We've been eating them for years without any ill effects.

[CLOUDYBOY]

thanks for the reply.are your spot just on the outside of the fish or inside the meat?

[scotty18]

The fish with spots on the outside are ok to eat. Make sure to cook them to a interior temp. of atleast 165 degrees.

[Gissert]

Just little black spots on the skin. I've seen pike with them too.

[Cyberfish]

Black spot parasites in bluegills are normal and safe to eat, no boiling needed, just cook them like you normally would, though I would not recomend making sushi, even though there has never been a case of a human getting black spot from a fish!

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simul iustus et peccator

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[joep0674]

I heard that the spots on the fish were from parasites in the water that are fed off of a high level of mercury in the water . but that are ok to eat as long as you boil the fillets before cooking .
im not sure if its a fact or not but thats what i was told ....... just a lil info

[Minnetonka]

Check out the December forum for answers to your question.

http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum30/HTML/003782.html

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"I'd rather be fishing"

Mike

[The Grebe]

Those black spots on the sunnies are a type of parasite. I have heard that they occur because of a perpetual cycle...fish eating birds eat the infected fish, the parasite travels through their system and is released in their droppings, snails eat the residue and fish eat the snails, something like that?

I have never seen them on carp, crappie, cats, bullheads, trout, suckers, smallies, tullibees, etc.

I have seen them on small walleyes, and once in awhile on larger ones, pike, LM bass
juveniles, perch, sunnies, etc.

If there are'nt to many of them in the meat, I'll eat them, but if there is what I consider an over abundance, the foxes get them. I don't suppose it would hurt a person, but it is pretty unappetizing!

Now those little round worms that occur along the spines of some fish, and all the time in Rockbass, "yuk" and those #6 sized
white BB shaped dudes that are in the meat,
"Yuk" screw that, I don't get that hungry for fish!

[feverpetal]

The black spots are safe, no need to boil, but I always hold everything up to the light and check for the white spots, then cut those out. Those are bad.

fp

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"Cast riiiiight....there."

[Minnetonka]

Uvulifer sp.
(black spot in fish)

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Several members of this genus cause "black spot" in fish --- the best known species is Uvulifer ambloplitis. The life cycles of most members of this genus are similar. The definitive host is most often a bird, and the parasite's eggs are passed in the bird's feces. The first intermediate host is a snail, and the second intermediate host is a fish. The fish is infected when cercariae penetrate the skin. The cercariae lose their tails and transform into a stage called the "neascus larva" or "neascus metacercaria." The definitive host is infected when it eats an infected second intermediate host.
These encysted metacercariae often turn black and are visible on the fish's surface -- hence, "black spot" in fish. Heavily infected fish are often discarded by fishermen, although they pose no threat of infection to humans.

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"I'd rather be fishing"

Mike

[Minnetonka]

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.

Here is the web site with the photos referanced above.

www.michigan.gov/ dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364_10950-26966--,00.html

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"I'd rather be fishing"

Mike

[This message has been edited by Minnetonka (edited 01-29-2004).]