PRED-ATOR Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Hey fishraiders, Ive been seeing a huge increase in the number of of these critters in the last few months, especially in yakkas to the point where at the fish market they were hanging out of their mouths (i dont think 1 was sold that day). There is very limited info on the parasite and also alot of conflicting information. Basically it eats the tongue of the fish by digging its claw like legs into the mouth and sucking it dry, then replacing the organ with its self. Resources claim they live in harmony but if something was sucking my blood i would be to harmonios. I usually flick them out with a knife and release the fish, but now i dont know what i should be doing? Do we take them out? OR Do we leave them in? Also does anyone know where their native to? I think we can agree on one thing though...there bloody discusting lol Please help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRED-ATOR Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 Hey fishraiders, Ive been seeing a huge increase in the number of of these critters in the last few months, especially in yakkas to the point where at the fish market they were hanging out of their mouths (i dont think 1 was sold that day). There is very limited info on the parasite and also alot of conflicting information. Basically it eats the tongue of the fish by digging its claw like legs into the mouth and sucking it dry, then replacing the organ with its self. Resources claim they live in harmony but if something was sucking my blood i would be to harmonios. I usually flick them out with a knife and release the fish, but now i dont know what i should be doing? Do we take them out? OR Do we leave them in? Also does anyone know where their native to? I think we can agree on one thing though...there bloody discusting lol Please help By the way if you want more info on these crazy critters, check out these links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymothoa_exigua http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/tongue-eating-parasite-discovered.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafinx Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Thats just not right, id do the same and get it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yaulpang Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Yeah Im 100% with you on that. What is even more disgusting is when the parasite drops it's baby parasites and they swarm out like a tide of lice. EEEEWWWWHHHH nightmare time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koalaboi Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Hi Predator, Thanks for starting this interesting thread...I've often encountered what I've always called "doctors" in blackfish. The biggest problem they've given me is when I've struck at a good down only to retrieve the doctor on my hook! I do remember serving up a cooked fillet of tailor to my mum when I was very young. There, perched on the top of the meal was a well cooked doctor...we kids called out to Mum not to eat it but she refused to even look thinking we were tricking. I'd forgotten that story till then. She ate it btw. I will check for tongues in fish a catch with lice in them in future. Thanks again. Koalaboi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferret69 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 When you get some yakkas home, leave them in the sink for about 10 mins and wash with fresh water. The little docs (parasites) come right out. When you have around 5 or 10 of the little critters, fry them with butter and eat them hot. They taste like roasted nuts, high in protein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helliconia Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 you know when Bear Grylls eats all those bugs and stuff it's only meant to be for when your going to die without them, not as a general culinary experiment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budzsta Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I'm not sure if I would take them out if I was going to release the fish. Considering that they form a parasitic type relationship (as opposed to a symbiotic) however the parasite becomes (some what) the fishes tongue. I mean, it sucks that they got there the first place, but the severely atrophied tongue which used to be the fish tongue would probably not recover. Its kinda like the symbiotic relationship we have with the bugs in our gut. "food" for thought: Did you know we have more "foreign" cells (bacteria etc) in and on our body than we have our own cells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRED-ATOR Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 Hi Predator, Thanks for starting this interesting thread...I've often encountered what I've always called "doctors" in blackfish. The biggest problem they've given me is when I've struck at a good down only to retrieve the doctor on my hook! I do remember serving up a cooked fillet of tailor to my mum when I was very young. There, perched on the top of the meal was a well cooked doctor...we kids called out to Mum not to eat it but she refused to even look thinking we were tricking. I'd forgotten that story till then. She ate it btw. I will check for tongues in fish a catch with lice in them in future. Thanks again. Koalaboi No Problem Koalaboi, LOL i cant believe your mum ate one. I showed one to my missus one time n she started to dry reach. from then on she rarely comes fishing with me any more hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRED-ATOR Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 LOL velveteenrabbit how the hell could you bring your self to eat that thing. Sometimes when there cut up theres like millions inside of them, i would feel like there crawling through my body haha.\ Will your probably right about that dude, if they have replaced the tongue and i got rid of them it probably wouldnt do them very good. But another side to the coin is, if they have replaced the tongue, the fish obviously has no more taste receptors but still seems to take our bait (im assuming based on smell and vision)so wouldnt it be wise to get rid of them so they no longer suck blood from the fish? Another interesting point is the fish never seem to be in any sort of bad physical condition unless you see them on the body of the fish, in which they leave scars (ive seen this alot on slimeys and garfish from munmorah lake) Cheers, Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yaulpang Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Me thinks velveteen rabbit is have a joke I couldn't ever bring myself to eat one. Man what's with their creepy little eyes!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferret69 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Moi? Having a joke? Never !! But seriously, I went down to get some yakkas the other day and they were infested. They actually look pretty cool crawling around in the sink, the little alien critters. Well, down to Old mans tomorrow to get some more land based Kingies... finally figured out the perfect way to get them land based I hope everyone enjoys a great weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now