Specks on a Speck??

[Mike Sutton]

I caught this crappie this morning but it was covered with black spots! Any clue what these are? Is it safe to eat a fish like this?

[Gar-Getter]

That there looks like a black crappie

http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=6699

[dwm376s]

looks like a parasite. I catch a fish sometimes that are covered with these, especially in the fins. If you fillet the fish out you will see them in the meat too. Probably won't hurt you if you cook the fish thoroughly but the thought is unpleasant.

I usually toss them to the bank if they look like that.

[TAE73]

I caught some bass and blue gill out a creek one time that had spots on them like that. Called the Conservation office and they said it was a parsite, but was safe to eat... I threw them back anyway. We use to catch some bass out of a farm pond that would have yellow worms under the skin in the meat. You had to take the knife and cut them out to get the worm out. Buddys would fry them up and eat them, and they are still alive to day. You might want to call your conservation and explain them to them and maybe send the pic. But I would say they are safe to eat.

[J White]

That is a new one on me - I have searched, and posted before on some
of the weird stuff I have seen in/on fish, with no results/replys.
Maybe when I get time, I'll post it again. I feel funny too, eating any that
look odd though. Maybe somebody could just point out a good site for
such, in warm water fishes? Don't want to get caught up in reading a
zillion pages about "whirling disease" in trout like I have before...

[Mike Sutton]

Thanks guys for the comments. Here is a close up that shows the spots better.

As far as whether this was a black crappie or not. I'm not sure. It did have a different look than the others that I caught. In reading the definitions of each, seems like an easy way to tell is to count the dorsal fins. Here's a close of that and I think it seems that there are 6 and that would make it a white crappie.

[crappieseeker]

Looks like a white crappie to me because of the vertical bars. Also the black dot on the gill plate is pretty dark. The color is not very visible, making it hard to distinguish, but looks like a white. I use to catch alot of bream and crappie that had these spots. I gave the fish away anyway, so I didnt have to worry about eating it.

[dsacalaitman]

lol hey you might have found a new breed . seriously though it is a white crappie for sure as far as the spots it is definatley a parasite and it si safe to eat

[CrappiePappy]

about the "black specks", and white or yellow grubs - found in your fish ........ check this out - http://govdocs.aquake.org/cgi/reprin...04/6040240.pdf

In a nutshell - they are "Digenetic Trematodes" (parasites) - they don't usually harm the health of the host fish (that would interrupt their life cycle) - and they are harmless to humans ... but, not visually appealing or appetizing. ........ cp



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[Gar-Getter]

my apologies about the first post, I had a brain-fart and didn't realize you were talking about the other specks on the speck