So I’ve been fishing panfish from this place for a few weeks now, and for whatever reason, I keep seeing these little white spots all over the inside of these bluegill. I’ve caught crappie and sunfish as well but they don’t have any of these spots in them. It’s exclusively bluegill for some reason. And I’ve tried doing some research about it, I’ve come to the idea that these are either worms, white grubs or eggs. But these don’t look like anything I’ve seen before. Ive already called in a heads up to CPW about this just in case it is worms. I probably should’ve taken better pictures, but it would be really helpful to know what these are.
Posted by That_dead_bug
4 Comments
Pyloric caeca or however it’s spelled. An organ fish have.
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I see others here are assuming you are talking about the pyloric caeca, but what you are seeing are parasitic larval trematodes in the liver of the fish. I’ve looked at these under a microscope during a fish health class in lacrosse Wisconsin. They were from a bluegill from the Mississippi River. It is a common parasite in sunfish. I believe they share a similar life cycle with white spot and yellow grub also commonly seen in sunfish, perch and others. This life cycle also includes a bird and snail host. It’s not harmful to humans especially if the fish is cooked properly and I’m assuming you aren’t eating the liver anyway. Any fresh water wild fish will contain parasites of one form or another.
They’re just noodles, Michael