Howdoweplaythis Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Caught this leatherjacket at Balmoral today and it had something funky going on with its skin. It didn't look in too good shape, but it swim away quite happily (i was certainly not going to eat it!) Wondering if anyone's seen this before, or knows what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I have seen something similar in Harbour leatherjackets. I don't know what it is but the odd fish is just damn seedy & I never ate them either! Any ideas anyone? Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Possibly a fungal infection. Have caught other species with funny spots, but do not eat any of them. Chuck 'em back, and hope they grow out if it. Many years ago, I caught a couple of tailor with very distorted backbones, the fish were not straight at all, several bends along the body and they were shorter than they should have been, similar to spinal problems in humans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdoweplaythis Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 Possibly a fungal infection. Have caught other species with funny spots, but do not eat any of them. Chuck 'em back, and hope they grow out if it. Many years ago, I caught a couple of tailor with very distorted backbones, the fish were not straight at all, several bends along the body and they were shorter than they should have been, similar to spinal problems in humans. Fungal infection was my best guess too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 A couple of months back, I saw a dead bream with what (in hindsight) looked like ulcers on it .... and later the same day, found a dying bream with similar lesions on it, so grabbed it & took it to Fisheries. It happens here after a lot of freshwater enters our system (and in the last few months, we've had our fair share of heavy rain!) - seems it puts the fish under stress & they break out in ulcers. They were pleased that I'd kept the fish, as they were going to get the lesions analysed, in case it was a new disease. I hate it when I see fish like that! I wouldn't eat them, either! Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdoweplaythis Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 In case anybody is interested, a shot the pictures off to a pathologist who specialises in fin fish at my faculty. Got this response: " The overall coloration is unusual compared to the fish I am familiar with – usually a uniform grey/brown – but it looks to be pigment patterns in normal skin. I presume you are referring to the warty growths on the tail/peduncle. Although it is difficult to see clearly at low magnification these lesions could be lymphocystis, an iridoviral infection of dermal fibroblasts, reported in marine species in eastern Australia. It is usually self limiting (unless the whole fish is limited by a fishing line). " Fishing and science. My two loves coming together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Thanks for sharing that Plenty of science lovers on fishraider, how Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotshot Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 (edited) I've seen some leatherjackets in the past 2 or 3 months that have had huge lumps on both sides of there bodies, and on the edge of the base of these lumps were 1-2cm openings in the leatherjackets skin, one of the guys fishing near me also caught one, and as he was getting the hook out of the leatherjackets mouth, his thumb must have pushed on the lump, and out came a big parasite, which had clearly burrowed under the leatherjackets skin when it was small, and grown whilst in there. The parasite was bigger than a 50 cent coin, it was all white, quite similar to the ones that crawl out of the yakkas mouths when they die, except it was rounder and fatter. I have seen about 20 leatherjackets with this same thing on one or both sides of their bodies. Has anyone else seen this? Edited August 6, 2012 by Hotshot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tumra Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 im always seeing fish with what look like skin diseases, though its typically in Aussie salmon caught in the hacking. This is one i caught last year with some pretty bad leisions though they are not usually this bad. I typically check over the fish to make sure there is nothing wrong with them before they go in th keepers net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdoweplaythis Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Hotshot, that sounds pretty horrible! Always chuckle when people tell me mother nature is beautiful. Tumra, that's a shame buddy. Decent sized salmon there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I've seen some leatherjackets in the past 2 or 3 months that have had huge lumps on both sides of there bodies, and on the edge of the base of these lumps were 1-2cm openings in the leatherjackets skin, one of the guys fishing near me also caught one, and as he was getting the hook out of the leatherjackets mouth, his thumb must have pushed on the lump, and out came a big parasite, which had clearly burrowed under the leatherjackets skin when it was small, and grown whilst in there. The parasite was bigger than a 50 cent coin, it was all white, quite similar to the ones that crawl out of the yakkas mouths when they die, except it was rounder and fatter. I have seen about 20 leatherjackets with this same thing on one or both sides of their bodies. Has anyone else seen this? These are generally called 'doctors'. They are a common parasite found in leatherjackets & yakkas. Use the "Search" function at the top right of this page to find out more. Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotshot Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Hotshot, that sounds pretty horrible! Always chuckle when people tell me mother nature is beautiful. Tumra, that's a shame buddy. Decent sized salmon there. Yeh I felt really sorry for the fish, having one of those doctors latch on to ur tongue would be bad enough, but in all my years of fishing I have never seen this style of parasite which buries itself under the skin. Poor buggers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Yeh I felt really sorry for the fish, having one of those doctors latch on to ur tongue would be bad enough, but in all my years of fishing I have never seen this style of parasite which buries itself under the skin. Poor buggers! Over many years, I've caught the occasional jacket with one of those fat parasites buried inside. Still taste good. Sand whiting occasionally have a small flat parasite on one of their fins, sometimes a couple per fish, also caught a couple of tailor with a larger fast swimming parasite on the side fin. I kill the parasites and do not throw them back into the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotshot Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Does it hurt the fish to kill the parasite by removing it or trying to remove it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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