tevoro Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 G'day raiders, I made use of the sunny weekend by going down to the Spit bridge for a fish. All we seemed to hook up were leather jackets and by the looks of the fishos around us, thats what they were catching as well. Anyways, after opening one of the particularly "fat" jackets at home, I found some ugly looking parasite living in its gut! That freaked me out to no end! It looked like a cockroach, except it was milk white in color, with short legs, sort of tear dropped shape, and bigger than a 50c piece. (It reminded me of those creatures in Dan Brown's novel Deception Point) I suspect this parasite burrowed itself into the LJ's stomach and made a home in there. Question is: Any idea what it is? And should I have eaten that fish? Sorry fellows, I dont have a photo of the parasite but I'll try to post a photo of the LJ with its stomach buldging out, I got rid of the fish and parasite quick smart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hottyscotty Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 i'm only guessing it might be a tongue biter. the description fits but they're usually found on the tongue. although someone did tell me they were pretty successful as bait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olitay Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Hey Tervoro, Interesting post indeed. I caught a stack of jackets last week and took a few home for a feed and one of them had a parasite half buried into its body just above the stomach, was exactly as described, milky white, cockroach type creature. I dont know how the bugger got through the jackets skin. It was still alive too... Would love to know what it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewdreamer Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Hi Guys, They call those things "Doctors" Lots of LJs have em. As far as I know it doesn't effect the eating qualities of the host fish. Have a look at the jackets at the fish markets/shops. you can see the indents on a fair proportion of them where the doctors set up home. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olitay Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Hi Guys, They call those things "Doctors" Lots of LJs have em. As far as I know it doesn't effect the eating qualities of the host fish. Have a look at the jackets at the fish markets/shops. you can see the indents on a fair proportion of them where the doctors set up home. Cheers Chris I thought doctors were the little buggers seen inside yakkas mouths.. Whilst they looked similar, this was a big bugger! and not in the mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hottyscotty Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 did a search on FR you mean this thing? http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=15503 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 The parasite is commonly called a 'doctor'. It has no affect on the eating qualities of the fish. They bury into the stomach & sides of lj's. They are the same ones you get in yakkas but they do tend to be alot bigger & fatter in a lj. They are ugly looking critters though. Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tevoro Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) did a search on FR you mean this thing? http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=15503 Yeah, thats it! What a ugly looking critter! According to a few posters, they said it doesnt harm the eating qualities of the fish. But hey, it freaked me out so no way am I eating that jacket! Edited July 20, 2009 by tevoro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glennmreid Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Seen them in blackies as well. ugly looking things. Hooked a blackie, and the doctor was on the end of my hook. I thought I hooked a cockroach on the ground. Gives me shivers up my spine thinking about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephi Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 lol I hooked a yakka a few days ago, and by chance the hook impaled one of these which was in its mouth, and the little critter slide all the way up to the line. Strange name.. "doctor", I always simply called them lice. Anyway, I also notice a lot of these REALLY BIG ones inside the gut of LJs, and plenty in the mouths of yakkas, pilchards and mackerel. Caught a few small trevs which had them as well.. I would say they affect and spread among large numbers of schooling fish. They don't affect the meat in any way. For those which are attached to the fish's mouth, one way to get rid of them is place the fish in a bucket of water and they will detach themselves when oxygen runs out (of course the fish would be dead too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humkyle Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 jeez thats creepy.... reminds my of Alien (s) where the aliens burst out of people stomachs..no way would i eat a fish if this was in there whilst cleaning it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
industrial Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 i also heard that they can bite you and that the bite never heals or something. maybe an old wives tale or something amongst the lines of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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