Result on parasite analysis of Jordanelle perch.

[doggonefishin]

Several members have reported catching perch from Jordanelle that have been infested with parasites. On March 11th, I caught an infested perch from the Hailstone area and submitted a sample to a veterinary pathologist for review. Here is a paraphrase of the results.

Histopathologic diagnosis:Encysted metacercaria, larval form of digenic trematodes.

Comment: (from the pathologist) Fish act as the 2nd intermediate hosts on these parastes, with snails as the first intermediate host and aquatic BIRDS as the final host. The species of parasite is the "yellow grub" which is NOT considered harmful to humans.

Please note that these are not tapeworms. Trematodes include liver flukes, schistosomes, and lungworms.

A few more comments, most of the fish that have been reported to have these beasties have been caught in the Hailstone arm of Jordanelle. I have caught and filleted hundreds of perch from the Rock Cliff arm and have yet to find any affected individuals. The tested fish was from Hailstone. I wonder if the local circumstances are such that Hailstone fish are more affected? Also it should be noted that since the definitive hosts are aquatic birds and all lakes certainly have aquatic birds, these parasites are probably in all perch populations in our state. Anyway, nothing in the report is going to cause me to stop eating Jordanelle perch.
bon appetit
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[kluge0101]

Good. Thanks for the info.
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[Fin-S-Fish]

Thanks for the info. I was very curious about it but didn't get a chance to pursue it due to my busy work schedule. Yes, my infested perch were from the hailstone area also. But no, I have NOT found this particular parasite anywhere else and I've fished and closely inspected fish from numerous places: rockport, echo, pineview, willard, hyrum, newton, mantua, utah lake, etc. Let's hope it doesn't spread even though it's not a concern for humans....thorough cooking...... on a personal level it makes me squeamish even when I know I don't have anything to be concerned about. There's just something about those little dots that make the fillet look nasty! But that's just me! Eventually I'll get over it....maybe.
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[Theekillerbee]

That's really good info to know. Thanks for going through the effort and spending the cash to get it done.
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[moby_dick]

what do the infested fish look like? i caught a couple perch at pineview earlier this year that had a single spot on either side. The spot looked almost as if something pink and feathery was growing on it.
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[doggonefishin]

"I have NOT found this particular parasite anywhere else and I have fished and closely inspected fish from numerous places"

I agree totally. After you reported this for the first time last year, I have been looking for these as well and have found none elsewhere. Additionally, as I stated before, I have filleted a lot of Rock Cliffs perch the past 2 yrs. and haven't found any there either. (I fish Rock Cliffs a lot, but rarely Hailstone) Since there are an abundance of aquatic birds in all of our lakes and they obviously are very mobile, I can't help but think that the cause of the apparent high infestation in the Hailstone area might be a factor affecting the first intermediate host (snails) such as water temperature, certain type of mud bottom, or some other factor that causes the snails to do well or to get eaten heavily by the perch. I do know what you mean about the sqeamishness when you see one of these heavily infested fillets. Oh well, it has been fun to help work this up.

Moby Dick, the "grubs" are light tan colored, round to oval and are deeply embedded into the meat. The fish externally look fine. There were about 50-60 cysts in the fillet I submitted to the pathologists.
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[fsh4fun05]

Do they look like the "grubs" in the fish at Pelican?
And by the way, good job on the investigation, not many people would pursue, or have the means to pursue, such a task.
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[doggonefishin]

[size 1]"Do they look like the "grubs" in the fish at Pelican?"[/size]
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[size 1]No, these are much smaller and more pale than the bluegill grubs. (Only about 1/4th the size of the bluegill grubs) I have also seen the bluegill grubs in the gills at Blue lake.[/size]
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