A few weeks ago I went ice fishing and caught several bluegills and crappies. I brought them home and while cleaning them I found 3 parasites, flukes I believe, in the some of the bluegills. That in itself wasn't any big deal as I've found them before. In the past I had always just cut them out of the meat and thrown them away, this time for some reason my curiosity got the better of me so I cut them out carefully, and put them into a dish of dechlorinated water. Was quite surprised to find that they could move around. I'm not sure why that surprised me but I was not expecting them to be as active as they were. I snapped a few pictures and took some video. I was going to try to post them the next day but after reviewing the video I realized that I need to be a little more aware of the background when I take a video. I had a credit card statement setting on the table in clear view. I still had the parasites and 2 were still alive, but moving around a lot less by then, and I wasn't satisfied with the video I was getting on day 2. I went fishing again last weekend, and caught several more crappies and 1 bluegill. There was a parasite in this bluegill also, so was finally able to get the video. But first the pictures.
One of the bluegills from the first batch, had the parasite just beneath the skin at the base of it's dorsal fin. It's the little white dot near the back
Bluegill_fin_01_19_09.jpg 77.71KB
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Bluegill_fin2_01_19_09.jpg 58.92KB
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A couple pictures of an extracted parasite (couldn't quite get them into focus)
Bluegill_parasite_1.jpg 16.66KB
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bluegill_parasite_2.jpg 25.8KB
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The other parasites were all found in the flesh like this one a bit to the left of the arrow. Sushi anyone?
bluegill_parasite_trip_2.jpg 51.12KB
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And finally the video.
Bluegill Parasites
Started by
Guest_smilingfrog_*
, Feb 15 2009 02:49 AM
2 replies to this topic
#1 Guest_smilingfrog_*
Posted 15 February 2009 - 02:49 AM
#2 Guest_fishlvr_*
Posted 15 February 2009 - 02:54 AM
Whoa. That thing was pretty active. Just make sure you don't undercook your fish
#3 Guest_blakemarkwell_*
Posted 15 February 2009 - 11:24 AM
Yep, that one that you have on a piece of cardboard is a trematode I believe. Sorry for the vague description.
Thanks for posting pics, I am taking a parasitology course next semester, and doing my senior seminar "undergraduate research" on parasites commonly found in the local Etheostoma (blennioides, caeruleum, flabellare, nigrum, spectabile, etc....) that central Illinois has to offer.
Blake
Thanks for posting pics, I am taking a parasitology course next semester, and doing my senior seminar "undergraduate research" on parasites commonly found in the local Etheostoma (blennioides, caeruleum, flabellare, nigrum, spectabile, etc....) that central Illinois has to offer.
Blake
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