I pulled these out of a few bluegills last month. What the heck is it?
I didnt return any of the parasites to the water.
They dangled from the fish's body, one end anchored in maybe an eighth of an inch, the other end hanging off. The embedded end was surrounded by a raised reddish lesion on the fish's scales. They seem specific to bluegills in one area of the lake. I didnt see them on shiners or catfish from the same location, nor on bluegills from other locations in the same water system.
They bear a bit of a resemblance to the copepods that hang off the dorsal fins of pelagic sharks.
I didnt return any of the parasites to the water.
They dangled from the fish's body, one end anchored in maybe an eighth of an inch, the other end hanging off. The embedded end was surrounded by a raised reddish lesion on the fish's scales. They seem specific to bluegills in one area of the lake. I didnt see them on shiners or catfish from the same location, nor on bluegills from other locations in the same water system.
They bear a bit of a resemblance to the copepods that hang off the dorsal fins of pelagic sharks.
