The truth of redears and those bugs

[Bullhead]

What is the truth about those little black buggies things that are often in bluegill flesh? What are they called, where do they come from and is it true that redears will eat them at the source?

[James Feasel]

i've always heard they are a parasites, and they are introduced to the water by bird droppings. they are ok to eat (cooked) if you can get past the thought. Good question. Curious to hear from one of our BBG experts.

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

Those little black buggies are called trematode worms....transmitted from Birds-Snails-fish....they wont kill ya but yech!!...Redears don't eat them....they eat Redears.

[Bruce Condello]

Redears love the snails that form 1/3 of the parasitic triad (bird-snail-fish). I've found that the ponds that have the lowest populations of parasites are often the ponds that have no dead trees in which kingfishers like to perch, and good populations of redears to trim back the snail population. My Dad's pond is like this and we've never seen even a single parasite.

I wish I had a crisp one dollar bill for every parasite I've ever eaten, but admittedly I don't like to think about it. And I never, ever, EVER tell the wife and kids about 'em! :-)

[Tony Livingston]

Yep- bird, snail, fish. Don't know how many times I've stood with the family watching Great Blue Herons standing in the shallows, aware that any attempt on my part to hasten the departure of said Herons would result in a family mutiny. All the while I'm forced to smile and say kind things about the feathered fish ninja, silently stalking, catching, eating, and depositing the first stage of the parasitic triad. I grit my teeth, hoping for a divine lightning bolt to strike at the creatures feet, no such luck. And yes, I agree with Bruce, I've eaten fish containing this parasite my entire life - and I also don't call attention to the fact!

[Bullhead]

Just tell the family that those black things in the meat are "flavor crystals".

[chris garton]

what are the yellow worms that i see in bluegills and bass in the summer, they are big enough to cut out of the meat, so i dont eat them

[Eric White]

Black spots

Black spot disease is commonly observed in rock bass and other sunfish, bass, pike, perch, minnows, and other fish species. It can be identified by the presence of small black spots, usually about the size of a pin head, in the skin, the fins, the musculature, and the mouth of the fish. The black spots are caused by pigment that the fish deposits around the larval stage of a parasitic digenetic trematode, usually a Neascus spp.

The lifecycle of the "black spot" parasite is complex. The adult parasite is found in a fish eating bird, the kingfisher. The larval parasite is transferred from the infected fish to the bird during the feeding process. In the kingfisher, the larval stage develops into an adult parasite. The adult parasite in the intestine of the bird produces eggs that are eventually deposited in the water. There the eggs mature, hatch, and develop into the miracidium stage of the parasite. The miracidium infects a snail. In the snail, the miracidium develops into the cercaria life stage. The cercaria leaves the snail and actively penetrates a host fish. In the fish, the parasite becomes encysted. In about 22 days, black spots form around the cyst. This entire lifecycle takes at least 112 days to complete.

In general, the presence of the "black spot" parasite does not affect the growth or the longevity of the infected fish; however massive infections in young fish may cause fish mortality. The parasite is incapable of infecting humans and, as is the case with all fish parasites, it is destroyed by thorough cooking. When fish are heavily infected, some anglers prefer to remove the skin to improve the appearance of the cooked fish.


Yellow grub

The yellow grub is a digenetic trematode. These types of parasites require several hosts to complete their life cycles. In the case of the yellow grub, the adult parasite is found in the throats of fish eating birds, such as herons. During the feeding process, eggs produced by the adults are washed out of the bird's mouth and into the water. There they hatch, yielding a free swimming larval stage (miracidia) that will die within several hours if it does not find and infect a snail of the genus Helisoma. After further development within the snail, a free swimming cercaria leaves the snail and seeks a fish host. The cercariae burrow through the skin of the fish and encyst, where they develop into the metacercariae. These yellow grubs may live several years in the fish. If the fish is eaten by the bird host the larval metacercariae will develop into adult parasites, completing the life cycle.

Infestations by a few individuals likely cause little harm to fish, however, under certain circumstances, heavy infestations can kill fish. Yellow grubs are described as unsightly by fishermen. A related species occurring in Asia has been found to infect the upper respiratory tract of humans. Thorough cooking kills the North American yellow grub and the parasite does not alter the flavor or the infected fish; however, fish with heavy infestations are typically not eaten by anglers.

Infestation is somewhat greater for fish caught in shallow water where snails and fish eating birds are most prevalent. Fish caught from deep water typically exhibit less infestation. Like many biological phenomenon, prevalence of the grub may be greater in some years and less in others for a variety of reasons including an abundance of intermediate host mollusks and birds.

[chris garton]

time to make the pond deeper and put herons and kingfisher on the shoot if seen list along with the dam beaver