Black Spot Fish Disease - What You Need to Know
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- Опубліковано 17 жов 2024
- Black spot fish disease is caused by a parasitic trematode (a.k.a. fluke or flatworm) in the genus Neascus. Multiple species of Neascus can infect fish. This video describes the life cycle of these trematode parasites and their impacts on fish and humans. If you've caught a fish with raised black spots or bumps in the skin or meat, it is very likely black spot fish disease.
#fishing
Creek chub image by Noah Poropat, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommon..., via Wikimedia Commons
Thank you for helping to spread actual helpful information. Especially about something a lot of anglers aren’t always informed about.
unfortunately, staying informed is not our strong suits. it still makes me cringe when anglers can't tell suckers from carp or call all sunfish bluegills
Thank you
@@kunaiwithchain5278 That's especially important when native fishes like suckers and buffalo are mistaken for common carp. It's important to learn how to identify all of the species that you might catch in your area.
Not sure how any of that matters.
@@knine8154 Some people will remove an invasive species (in the U.S., the common carp is a good example) from a waterbody with the idea that they are helping the ecosystem, but they don't realize that they are actually removing a completely different species that doesn't have the negative impacts that carp do.
Excellent report. I’ve been trying to explain this to fisherman for years and you tied it all together in one 2-minute video great job!
Awesome - I appreciate the comment. Thanks
I've definitely seen these on our local fish and wondered what the heck it was, but I realized if it was a big deal that we would already know about it. Good on you for doing your due diligence in teaching the fishing world about this interesting parasite. Good job!
Thank you - I appreciate the comment
Great video as always Nat. I worked a season with a state's fisheries division and these parasites are common enough that we don't even take note of them when doing surveys. The organism infecting these fish are very similar to the organisms that infect us to cause swimmer's itch. Pretty neat I think.
Also I wanted to commend you for your emphasizing not to attempt to "treat" or euthanize a fish that's been infected. Due to the cultural stigma behind parasites many people fail to recognize how ubiquitous they are in the environment. Whether it be invertebrates, fish, mammals, etc., every animal (and plants, fungi, and even some microbes!) has evolved through constant exposure to parasitic organisms. Like anything else, these parasites evolve in a cost-benefit fashion and adaptations that would be a major detriment to the host organism would (usually) make the parasites less fit. I've heard a parasitologist say that any given mammal found in the wild is loaded with multiple parasitic taxa, but the overall detriment to their fitness and health is completely negligible. The ecology of parasites is fascinating!
I agree. Parasites are everywhere, and they have varying levels of impacts on their host organisms, from lethal to negligible. In this case, research suggests that they have very limited impacts other than external appearance of the fish.
This is actually very useful. Thanks for the time and effort ❤👍🏾
You're welcome - I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent, to the point video. We see these a lot up here in Ontario, Canada 🍁 🇨🇦. As you said perch, pike , rock bass and other pan fish seem to be effected most.
I appreciate it. Thanks for adding to the discussion!
IT'S TRUE!! IT'S TRUE!! You do learn something new every day. That was very interesting!
Thank you - I'm glad you learned something new!
I filleted a mess of Bass that had this about 15 years ago. I cut the black dots out of the meat. There were not too many in the meat. The next morning I got in my truck to go to work and wrapped my hands around the steering wheel. I felt pain in one of the creases in my finger. I looked and there was a little blood there. I scraped the area with my fingernail and one of these little creatures was revealed. He was trying to burrow into me.
Gross. It must have been one that wasn't wrapped up in melanin yet.
I've caught fish like that and always wondered what was going on. Great video! 👍
Thanks!
I just started fishing and I have been really enjoying your video. Very informative and so much data comparison. Really helpful.
What do you do? If It's not too personal. :) thank you for your videos.
I'm a professional lake biologist
Thank you for this quick & informational video. I’ve always wondered what was going on with those black spots on fish. Whenever I came across one, mainly on yellow perch.
You're welcome - I'm glad it was helpful to solve the mystery for you!
Thank you for spreading your knowledge about this black spot disease. Although I mainly do catch and release, I’ve wondered what these spots were caused by or if they were harmful to the fish or safe for consumption. Great video!
Thanks - I appreciate the comments
Excellent synopsis! I’ll be sharing with friends who ask cause about this your explanation is way clearer than mine! Thanks!
Thanks - I appreciate the comment
Very informative and nicely done. Thank you for your time and effort on this video. Have a good day.
Thank you - I appreciate the feedback!
The yellow perch seem to be heavily affected, more than any other species in a spillway I fish. But in the lake its not as bad.
That seems to be common. Perch hang out near the bottom where most of the snails are, so that probably makes them more susceptible to being infected.
Always wondered what those were.I remember back in the 70,s i caught a brook trout from swampy creek that was covered in those spots.I kept it but my dad said it might not be safe to eat.Learn something on yt today anyway.Thanks
Glad to hear you enjoyed the video and learned something today!
wow ....thanks for info. I was catching yellow perch through the ice last year and saw this .... I was throwing the fish back for fear of eating them and getting sick...thumbs up from Lake George, NY !!
Glad I could help. Thanks for the comment.
I use to go fishing with my grandfather when I was a kid. He would get drunk until he couldn't walk and let me drive the boat. He was also known to eat minnows for good luck and he smoked marijuana
Fishing with family is all about making lasting memories 😆
He sounds like an absolute frigging legend! I've never even known the man, and I feel like I miss him. Outstanding!
@remcovanvliet3018 he was a strange man, but he enjoyed his booze and the left handed cigarettes
Elite grandpa
Precious memories
Good video! Straight to the point and nicely explained.
Perfect - thanks for the feedback
Thanks
Great info. And great shot of that spinner blade turning at the end
Thanks - I appreciate the comment.
Excellent video. I always wondered about those dots. Thanks
Thanks - I really appreciate the feedback
Thanks I always wondered what this was. I’d commonly see it on really small pike so I’d just throw them back. Glad that was the right move
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Very interesting and helpful information! Thanks!
Great - thanks!
Fifty years ago I fished local golf course ponds that were loaded with smallish bass and huge bluegill. I never kept any fish because they were loaded with those weird black spots. Thanks for answering an old question👍
I'm glad it solved the mystery for you!
I wouldn't eat fish caught from a golf course because of all the chemicals and fertilizers running off into the water
As Jeremy said, I'd be a lot more worried about the chemicals used on the golf course than any of the parasites in the fish.
Like I said, it was 50yrs ago. Most of us were not keenly aware of what was going on back then and we did a lot of things that would make people shake their heads at. If I eat fish these days, it’s almost never fish I caught.
Good stuff! I had always wondered about that. Thanks.
Glad you found it to be a useful video!
Nice video and very informative! Thanks for sharing this information. Good job!
Thanks
Merci beaucoup pour ces renseignements.
Vous êtes les bienvenus
Merci pour la réponse en français. I love you!@@FishingwithNat
I genuinely didn't know it was safe to eat fish infected with black dots
As long as the meat is frozen or cooked first, the parasites will be dead and harmless.
In the US, sushi for example, is required by law to be previously frozen when sold by restaurants for the same reason as he mentioned above. It kills potential parasites in the meat. And if you see sushi or sashimi grade, when buying fish from a monger these were also previously frozen. These are for different parasites though that DO pose a risk to human health. Glad black spot is alright to eat if frozen or cooked though
If the bird is removed from the lifecycle, will it end the cycle altogether?, would they all die out,
Starting an aquaponics system and collecting pond water to grow daphnia and other microbes.. which the flukes might get scooped up as well, but if they need the bird gut specially.. or any gut that they end up in?
They specifically require a life stage within a bird, so yes, removing the bird from the equation would end the parasite's life cycle.
Appreciate the info.
Glad you enjoyed it - thanks
i'm 70 and have fished all my life, mostly in michigan and canada. from my experience perch seem to be affected the most. they also seem to have more grubs in them. i also have caught many pike with the spots. i have caught thousands of suckers and have never seen one with the spots.
Thanks for the comment. I agree about pike and perch being the most common species to have these parasites. I think they are more common on suckers in calm waters rather than those that tend to live in streams. I've never caught a sucker in flowing water that has had the spots.
I'm also from Michigan and, percentage-wise, I seem to find more fish grubs in pumkinseed sunfish than anything else that I catch.
@@handcannon1388 They are definitely common in bluegills and sunfishes too. Are you referring to black spot parasites or the yellow grubs wiggling in the meat when you clean the fish?
Not trying to but in here - but I catch a number of Pumpkinseeds with the little yellow grubs in their flesh. Ijust try to cut out what I can see and figure that boiling oil takes care of the rest. What are these grubs?@@FishingwithNat
Muskies seem not to be infected by black spot disease but northern pike seem to be susceptible.....
That was awesome, I learned something new. Tnanks!
Wonderful - thanks for the comment.
Good to know, thanks.
Thanks for the feedback - I appreciate it.
There were often tiny parasites in the meat of fish caught in upstate NY in lake Champlain. They seemed to be far more prevalent in the warmer months, and almost non existent in winter. There were ones like black dots in the meat, but I never noticed that in the skin. There were also tiny white things sometimes that actually moved a little. Like a little grub or something. Could these have been the same thing?
And do you think eating any of them, if they were under cooked, could cause an infection in humans?
Black spot and yellow grubs are a bit different, but theyre both parasites caused by aquatic birds like herons.
They also die after freezing for 72h or cooking, but I never kept a fish that had them because I find eating that kinda off-putting.
@@AlphaQHard Yeah, I know they’re off putting, and that they die after freezing or cooking, but what I was thinking about it the ones you don’t see, and if the fish wasn’t well enough cooked, can they infect humans?
@@jimf1964 Most parasites are pretty specific to what they can infect. They require certain conditions in order to continue their life cycle. Black spot disease and "yellow grub" are both caused by trematode (fluke) parasites and neither one can infect humans. Both parasites need to complete various life cycles within fish, snails, and waterbirds.
@@FishingwithNat ok, thanks. Good to know
Sounds similar to the yellow grub I found one year. I also found out that the severity of the infestation can be cyclical.
It can. Thanks for the comment.
Great information!
Thanks!
I always wondered about those, first saw them in aquarium fish, the only time I saw them outdoors was on yellow perch (these were big perch) walleye, pike , smallies didn't have them. This was eagle lake Canada. We had an Indian guide and he said we couldn't eat them.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
What if I wanna eat the fish with the skin.
Do the parasites matter or do they get killed anyway when I'm cooking them?
They will die during cooking. There's no risk to you if you eat them after cooking. They just crunch a little.
👍🏻 thanks for your answer.
What about eating them raw is a human even endangered through those worms?
Thanks for the great video!!
You're welcome - I appreciate the comment
Great video.
Thank you
Great video
Thanks!
Love you this finally know what this actually is lol way to many zombie peach caught I honestly feel so bad for some perch lol
Yeah it can be pretty bad on yellow perch
Hence why it's good practice to freeze all wild caught meat for 24hrs at minimum, before consumption. Trychomonas in pork, is why we used to recommend 165f at minimum before consumption. Eating rare pork is delicious!!I I think until 2020 or so the old guidelines basically made an entirely realm of dishes off limits. Here in the USA, all pork sold commercially must be frozen. This kills the parasite, or cooking to 165f. You can't buy fresh, never frozen pork unless you specifically order it. Fresh fish from your market, may contain parasites. Do you really want to risk it ? Freeze your meat, be safe.
Good idea.
thanks
You're welcome!
If I find black spots on my chub I’m definitely worrying
No worries...just put your chub in the freezer!
I just caught a pike yesterday with this all over him. I have mainly only seen it on pike in the river. We always called them water fleas lol. Guess we were wrong but.. Thanks!
Water fleas are a type of zooplankton and most are major sources of food for small fish. Different than these parasites. Thanks for the comment.
Dang alot of it in southwest michigan lakes
Here in Wisconsin too
cool was curious aboat them black spots never did like em ate enough of em never got none on me now i know thanks ,still don't like them black spot though
Yeah they're harmless...just a little gritty.
I caught bluegills from a peat bog that were literally black from this type of parasite.
Interesting - thanks for sharing
I've found them on nearly everything except crappies.
The spots might be hard to see on crappies if they were there.
interesting i see thes eon fish and always thought they were worms but a guy up norht who lived there his whole life said they were like freckles or sunspots from living in shallow water teh sun gets them mroe and bassically said they were harmless nontheless ive never eaten one with those black dots.. i mean ive never seen them to the extent soem of these fish have but just a few maybe no more thna 5-10 on a fish
They are sort of like tiny worms, but different. Thanks for the comment.
Cool.
Well, not cool,
but Cool!
🔆
Cool in its own way
the lake at my cabin is really bad with this stuff 90 percent of fish i catch have it
They can be very common in some lakes and absent in others.
some fish are really bad with it and in the video you said its harmless other than severe cases how severe would it have to be to be harmful@@FishingwithNat
@@Eizzen Several research studies mentioned "severe" infections of black spot disease having impacts on fish, causing muscle atrophy and possible effects on reproduction. These effects were the worst when water quality was poor or if the fish had another infection at the same time.
Ok thanks@@FishingwithNat
We had this parasite, but now its gone
Most things in nature follow a boom & bust cycle. It will probably re-appear at some point.
Been eating fish with these forever, the state says thier fine , my question is can they get in a human & yea I know cooking or freezing, yea yea i got it . But can they get into a human under your skin, & what does the Adult look like ? The only answer I've gotten for over 50 years is you'll be fine if you cook them ,what if i cut my hand while cleaning them or eat something after just rinsing my hands in the lake after cleaning them ?
The final stage of the parasite is flat and looks somewhat like a tiny leech. I'm not sure if they would have any effect on a human if they entered an open wound or human skin, but I think your immune system would destroy them similar to swimmer's itch parasites, which are also trematode parasites with a similar life cycle using snails and waterbirds. Swimmer's itch parasites will burrow into human skin but are quickly killed.
@@FishingwithNat kinda figured ,I wonder where the adults might be I'm definitely someone who should have seen them with all the time I've spent in the water especially shallows froggin & looking for crayfish for bait i sometimes go exploring in the swampy areas of the lakes I frequent in 1000 isles region, in my 60 years the only thing I've ever seen that looked like a small eel was under a rock & I suspect it was probably a leach but it didn't have a sucker mouth it was about 1.5 inches long, that was back in the 70s also the black and yellow grubs are as plentiful as ever and we rarely see snails anymore, what's up with that ? also are the black spots that look like a seed sprout & the yellow grubs the same thing? I'm sure I'm not the only person who's been wondering this for years and can't get an answer, hey now that I think of it when I was a teenager, we were netting minnows in a brackish creek that was full of leeches and I got probably around 100 of them on me but many looked like the yellow grubs in fish meat , were they flukes ?
@@ericschulze5641 Not sure about the black grubs that look like a seed sprout. The 100 critters on you in the brackish creek were probably juvenile leeches, which are usually clear to white/yellow.
I have eaten many fish with this issue.
Thanks for sharing. Did you notice a texture difference when eating the meat, or did the fish only have the spots in the skin?
@@FishingwithNat once I breaded and fried the fish I couldn’t tell . The flash did have spots but it didn’t bother me as most don’t realize fresh fish have parasites as a general rule hence why sushi is never fresh water fish, unless I’m wrong
@@arthurbrumagem3844 Right - raw fish (especially freshwater fish) will often have parasites in the flesh, including microscopic ones. You can deep-freeze the meat, which supposedly kills those parasites and allows for freshwater sushi to be a possibility, but I prefer the breaded and fried method like you mentioned.
I still think I'll pass
Many others would agree with you.
It’s life cycle is a lot like French heart worm
It is. Instead of a dog/canine being the end host, it's a waterbird.
There just pre peppered!
There you go! 😆
I poop them out too. lol. I clean and eat the fish. Just freeze and cook.
So you're the one spreading them around!
💩 💩 💩 😂 😆
kinda nasty still
parasites are the worst
True
It's called mother nature and natural selection.its not news 😂
Yes, it's completely natural. This video provides answers to a common question.
Hhhh
Thanks for watching
I actually love fried flukes.
What could be better?
All the fish in southbridge Massachusetts are like this I thought it was all the pollution or puerto ricans my family used to eat the fish but not anymore 😔
Are there a lot of ducks or other waterbirds there?