threw a cast net in a creek near Charlestown Landing this weekend and caught a bunch of shiners. When we went to bait with first one we noticed this bug latched on to the inside of it’s mouth. They were like this on all of them. What the heck is this?
sea lice
who was eating whom?
I think the shiners were getting eaten by these grub looking things. They were latched on and it looked like they were sucking the blood out of them.
Orange Grove Creek
2004 Cobia 211 Bay
Been seeing them in pogies lately
You say they were latched on and sucking the blood out of them? They were Democrat larva:smiley:
Cymothoa Exigua most likely. Its a parasite that actually eats the tongue of the fish which is where it gets it blood supply and then eats the food that the fish tries to consume. Its harmless to humans unless you let it bite you which can be a little painful. Creepy, but not alien.
low country newb
Ha,ha,ha…Democrat larva. I like it.
Don’t feed the bears; they will forget how to feed themselves, and they will be on your welfare forever. That’s funny…almost as funny as the Democrat gator.
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
I’ve seen a lot of them on the menhaden as well.
“Sire, it belongs in truth to the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to inflict them. But it will also please your Majesty to remember that she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”…Theodore Beza
I caught two tagged and one nontagged Redfish in the Wando about three weeks ago and all three had these things on there sides. Maybe 20 - 30 per fish. The bow of the boat was covered with them.
19’ Fiberskiff, 150 Bluewater Mercury. 14’ Gamefisher, 5hp Mercury.
Nasty to look at, kind of like the worms in AJ meat
I’m gonna hold off till BarbaWang gets in here.
We call them sea lice, and I dont know if that is correct. I have caught big reds covered with them. They seem to be worse during the winter on the reds. I know we had a good day when they are all over the boat when I am cleaning it. They will bite you given the chance.
quote:
Originally posted by TTKarlhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/tongue-parasite.html
Mayhem
Pioneer 197
I’m not easily grossed out…but that’s pretty nasty.
Hopefully there are lots of juvenile fish eating these guys in return.
Yeah, they really creep me out. Seems like they are always staring at me. This year is the first year I’ve really noticed them.
Mayhem
Pioneer 197