not sure on the name.. sure someone will chime in with it ... And also guessing it came out the gills of a blue ?? Is nothing to worry about.. Used to find them in almost every snapper 10 years ago.. Haven't seen many lately but then again haven't really been looking either

 

blue

yea sorry.. came out of a ****tail

 

some sort if isopod .. 99% you got nothing to worry about

 

I think they are called sea lice. I have seen them in a lot of inshore fish's gills and if you chunk during the summertime, you will see them loaded up in chunks that have been soaking for a while. I wouldn't worry about eating any fish with these on the gills.

 

thanks guys... never seen one this color (pinkish purple) so to be safe i put the blue in my crab trap.

 

Not sure what they are called, but I see them very often in the gills of snappers. Never seen one in a bigger blue though. ****tail size is about as big of a blue I have ever seen them in. Never seen one in any other species either. I have eaten snappers that have them in the gills-never noticed a difference. If you go snapper fishing and look in the gills more of them will have those parasites than you think.

This post edited by BASSSURF 03:02 PM 08/23/2011

 

Just pull them off when you catch the fish and forget about it. Ive eaten snappers with them on the gills all my life.

 

i dont do much snapper fishing unless i am messing around with my godson... and we dont keep them so i never noticed them..

 

I was chunking the south shore last night, after a 10min soak i had a few 100 of those on/in the bunker head

 

FlyTimes wrote:
I was chunking the south shore last night, after a 10min soak i had a few 100 of those on/in the bunker head

That's a pretty common occurence. If you get heads back after a long soak that are completely hollow, its usually those little guys. When they are around in big numbers like they are now, they will destroy your chunks in a matter of minutes.

 

SEA LICE

Isopods

are crustaceans that are widely distributed around the world
in marine and estuarine environments, with A few species found
in fresh water. These parasites adhere to fish gills, skin and
fins and may also live in the mouth and gill cavaties.
Isopod infestations confirmed by gross observation. The presence of
this parasite can interfere with feeding, cause chronic stress,
and result in growth retardation and make the fish sucseptible
to bacterial and/or parasitic invasions. Injured tissues are
frequently invaded by secondary bacterial invasions. Injured
tissues are frequently invaded by secondary bacterial pathogens,
and this may lead to diseas or even death of the fish.

I did A little research and copied this.

 

All isopods are not bad.

If you look deeper into it. Some parasties
clean the fish's parasites. The one's that
you find in all the snappers are fine. I've
asked this question when I was 8 years old.

 

Parasitic isopod, Livoneca ovalis, female, fish edible