Hit AP this weekend battling the wind and picking up some trout in 4-6 feet. When we filleted the trout we found several worms/parasites in many of the fish. Each worm(?) was about 2 inches long, white, with a bulbous head about the size of "00" buckshot. Needless to say, we chunked the fillets.
I have never seen anything similar to these in the past. Do any of you know what these were and what causes them?
Thanks.
Worms/Parasites in Trout
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
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Carpe Piscem
- Posts: 9
- Joined: January 17th, 2006, 11:47 am
- Location: Alpharetta, GA
That's why trout are known as worm bags....Redfish can have them from time to time
_______________
WORMS
THEY USUALLY ARE MORE PREVELANT IN SUMMER TIME TOUT, ESPECIALLY IN THE LARGE ONES. A GOOD REASON TO LET THE BIGUNS SWIM FREE.
JUST PLUCK THEM OUT AND DEEP FRY WITH THAT MUSTARD BATTER.
I AM ALMOST 100% SURE THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TROUT YOU HAVE CAUGHT WITH WORMS
.
JUST PLUCK THEM OUT AND DEEP FRY WITH THAT MUSTARD BATTER.
I AM ALMOST 100% SURE THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TROUT YOU HAVE CAUGHT WITH WORMS
.
I'm afraid you threw away some perfectly good fish. Unless it's very cold weather, I can find them in nearly every trout I clean. I'm not an expert but have heard from some where that trout become the host because of the shrimp they eat. If you've eaten shrimp... you've eaten the parasite as well.
"Good Judgement" comes from experience, ... and a lot of that..... results from "Bad Judgement".
One of our close family friends was over for dinner the other night and said..
At the table...
While taking a big bite of fish
"I don't eat trout after July"
My wife asks "Why?"
I changed the subject real quick
We go over the fish well and cut out what we can see...
From the Texas Parks and Wildlife website
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wi ... es/strout/
Some trout caught may have worms embedded in the flesh along the backbone. These "spaghetti" worms are larval stages of a tapeworm that can only reach maturity in sharks. The worms cannot survive in man even if the seatrout is eaten raw. The worms can easily be removed when the fish is cleaned to make the meat more appealing. The spotted seatrout is a member of the croaker family (Sciaenidae) and is a first cousin to the Atlantic croaker, red drum, black drum, and sand seatrout.
At the table...
While taking a big bite of fish
"I don't eat trout after July"
My wife asks "Why?"
I changed the subject real quick
We go over the fish well and cut out what we can see...
From the Texas Parks and Wildlife website
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wi ... es/strout/
Some trout caught may have worms embedded in the flesh along the backbone. These "spaghetti" worms are larval stages of a tapeworm that can only reach maturity in sharks. The worms cannot survive in man even if the seatrout is eaten raw. The worms can easily be removed when the fish is cleaned to make the meat more appealing. The spotted seatrout is a member of the croaker family (Sciaenidae) and is a first cousin to the Atlantic croaker, red drum, black drum, and sand seatrout.
Last edited by bman on June 6th, 2007, 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Barry Bevis, Realtor and Owner of BigBendFishing.net
I liked it so much, I bought the company
http://www.bevisrealty.com
TEAM "Duck Season!"
I liked it so much, I bought the company
http://www.bevisrealty.com
TEAM "Duck Season!"
An Even Better Article
From LSU
SPAGHETTI WORMS IN FISH
Spaghetti worms are common parasites of saltwater fish in the drum family, which include speckled and white trout, black drum, redfish, and croakers. While they look alike to most fishermen, several different worms use these fish as hosts. Most common in sea trout is Poecilancistrium caryophyllum. Worms found in black drum are most often Pseudogrillotia pIeistacantha. For ease of discussion, we will dispose of these tongue-twisting Latin names and refer to them all as spaghetti worms.
Fishermen frequently find these white, one to three inch long worms when filleting their catch. In trout they are usually found in the middle of the fillet in the area just below the dorsal fin. Research has shown that approximately 40% of Louisiana and Mississippi speckled trout are host to spaghetti worms, with an average of between one and two worms occurring per fish. It may appear that many more worms exist, but often one worm is cut into several pieces during filleting. Spaghetti worms in black drum are more common near the tail of the fish with a typical fish hosting 5 to 15 specimens.
The spaghetti worms we see in these fish are really parasitic tapeworms of sharks, who are just using the trout or drum as an intermediate host. The cycle begins with eggs produced by an eight-inch long adult worm which lives in a shark's intestine. After being passed into seawater, the egg hatches into a tiny swimming larva called a coracidium. If this larva is eaten within two days by a small marine crustacean like a copepod, it develops into another stage called a procercoid.
At this stage some uncertainty exists as to what happens. The copepod may be eaten by a trout, passing the larval worm on the trout. However, since small animals like copepods are seldom eaten by larger trout and since very few trout under ten inches long have spaghetti worms, another host is suspected. More than likely, a small bait fish like an anchovy eats the copepod and it in turn is eaten by the larger trout. In any case, once the larval worm is in the trout's digestive tract, it tunnels its way into the trout's flesh where it may live for several years. The life cycle is completed when a shark eats the trout and serves as host for the adult worm.
The fact that a spaghetti worm may live several years (up to 6 or 7) may surprise many fishermen, since they often claim that more fish are infected in one season than another. This may possibly be due to different populations of trout with different infection rates, moving up and down in a marsh system seasonally.
The number of trout carrying worms seems to be directly related to the characteristics and quality of the water in which the trout live. In general, the saltier the water and the less polluted it is, the higher the levels of infection are. This may be due to either one of the intermediate host's or the larval worm's needs for saline, unpolluted waters.
Another interesting fact is that once a trout becomes host to one or several spaghetti worms, it seems to develop an immunity to further infections. If this were not the case, large, old fish would have many more worms than a 12- or 14-inch fish, but they don't.
Finally, while the spaghetti worm may be somewhat unappealing to the eye, it certainly doesn't prevent good eating. Since, they are large enough to easily see, they are simple to remove during the filleting process. Simply grab the worm between the knife blade and thumb and gently pull it out. With a little practice, it becomes easy.
Many people don't even bother to remove them before cooking. After cooking, they are unnoticeable and cannot be tasted. In a survey conducted at Mississippi fishing rodeos a few years ago, less than 25% of the trout fishermen avoided eating fish with worms.
While cooking does, of course, kill the worm, even without cooking they are not a human health problem. No human infections have been recorded and researchers have been unable to infect warm-blooded animals with the parasite.
So good fishing and "bon appetit.â€
SPAGHETTI WORMS IN FISH
Spaghetti worms are common parasites of saltwater fish in the drum family, which include speckled and white trout, black drum, redfish, and croakers. While they look alike to most fishermen, several different worms use these fish as hosts. Most common in sea trout is Poecilancistrium caryophyllum. Worms found in black drum are most often Pseudogrillotia pIeistacantha. For ease of discussion, we will dispose of these tongue-twisting Latin names and refer to them all as spaghetti worms.
Fishermen frequently find these white, one to three inch long worms when filleting their catch. In trout they are usually found in the middle of the fillet in the area just below the dorsal fin. Research has shown that approximately 40% of Louisiana and Mississippi speckled trout are host to spaghetti worms, with an average of between one and two worms occurring per fish. It may appear that many more worms exist, but often one worm is cut into several pieces during filleting. Spaghetti worms in black drum are more common near the tail of the fish with a typical fish hosting 5 to 15 specimens.
The spaghetti worms we see in these fish are really parasitic tapeworms of sharks, who are just using the trout or drum as an intermediate host. The cycle begins with eggs produced by an eight-inch long adult worm which lives in a shark's intestine. After being passed into seawater, the egg hatches into a tiny swimming larva called a coracidium. If this larva is eaten within two days by a small marine crustacean like a copepod, it develops into another stage called a procercoid.
At this stage some uncertainty exists as to what happens. The copepod may be eaten by a trout, passing the larval worm on the trout. However, since small animals like copepods are seldom eaten by larger trout and since very few trout under ten inches long have spaghetti worms, another host is suspected. More than likely, a small bait fish like an anchovy eats the copepod and it in turn is eaten by the larger trout. In any case, once the larval worm is in the trout's digestive tract, it tunnels its way into the trout's flesh where it may live for several years. The life cycle is completed when a shark eats the trout and serves as host for the adult worm.
The fact that a spaghetti worm may live several years (up to 6 or 7) may surprise many fishermen, since they often claim that more fish are infected in one season than another. This may possibly be due to different populations of trout with different infection rates, moving up and down in a marsh system seasonally.
The number of trout carrying worms seems to be directly related to the characteristics and quality of the water in which the trout live. In general, the saltier the water and the less polluted it is, the higher the levels of infection are. This may be due to either one of the intermediate host's or the larval worm's needs for saline, unpolluted waters.
Another interesting fact is that once a trout becomes host to one or several spaghetti worms, it seems to develop an immunity to further infections. If this were not the case, large, old fish would have many more worms than a 12- or 14-inch fish, but they don't.
Finally, while the spaghetti worm may be somewhat unappealing to the eye, it certainly doesn't prevent good eating. Since, they are large enough to easily see, they are simple to remove during the filleting process. Simply grab the worm between the knife blade and thumb and gently pull it out. With a little practice, it becomes easy.
Many people don't even bother to remove them before cooking. After cooking, they are unnoticeable and cannot be tasted. In a survey conducted at Mississippi fishing rodeos a few years ago, less than 25% of the trout fishermen avoided eating fish with worms.
While cooking does, of course, kill the worm, even without cooking they are not a human health problem. No human infections have been recorded and researchers have been unable to infect warm-blooded animals with the parasite.
So good fishing and "bon appetit.â€
Barry Bevis, Realtor and Owner of BigBendFishing.net
I liked it so much, I bought the company
http://www.bevisrealty.com
TEAM "Duck Season!"
I liked it so much, I bought the company
http://www.bevisrealty.com
TEAM "Duck Season!"
Smart movebman wrote: "I don't eat trout after July"
My wife asks "Why?"
I changed the subject real quick
My wife saw one in a fish I was cleaning one time and I guess she either got over it or forgot it. She is not around often when the fillet knife comes out. I haven't decided if she's sqeamish or just scared of me with a knife around her 
You gonna talk, or you gonna fish?
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Capt Reggie
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ak man wrote:most trout have them, as well as grouper, amberjack and lots of other fish. You can cut or pull them out, but they will cook out and are harmless to humans. Just don't show them to your girlfriend / wife while you're cooking.
Great Greedy Grady, man - fry them up - you're missin' out on some wholesome protein there. Oh my God - it's Alf...where you find that critter there ak man? 
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