# Blue Gill Black Spots



## dadNson (Aug 20, 2008)

Can some one tell me about the black spots in my bule gill fellets are they safe to eat or not????


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## spiritofthewild_06 (Mar 20, 2007)

They are grubs...you can eat the fillets, you'll be fine.

Edit: This is from another forum...this guys sounds like he know's what he's talking about...

There's not much better eating than bluegill fillets, but those black spots are certainly a turn-off.

Yes, you're seeing the larval stage of a parasitic worm called a trematode. The adults live in the mouths of kingfishers. Their eggs pass through the birds' digestive tracts into the water, hatch, and then become free-swimming larvae which burrow into snails. After a few weeks the transformed larvae leave the snails and swim to a fish, burrowing into the skin or flesh.

The actual black spot you see is not the worm -- the fish form a layer of black pigment called melanin around the larvae. When a kingfisher eats the infected fish the cycle is complete.

These worms cannot infect humans - they're harmless. At pond management clinics I tell people that they have three levels of protection here. First, you'll probably cut the black spots out of the fillet. Second, any that you miss will be killed during cooking. Third, even if you swallow living black spot worms, they would pass through you without infecting you. Sorry, but you're just not the food they like. It's almost insulting.


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## Quack Wacker (Dec 20, 2006)

If you see white grubs in the meet throw it away, but black spots are fine.


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## DetroitIron (Dec 4, 2003)

Whats up with the white grubs? I fileted some filets recently, that had some of the black specs, thought I recalled a post like the one above that states they're ok to eat. I think I may recall seeing a small "white" spec, though, in one of the filets? What should I be worried about with these "white" specs?


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## RichP (Jan 13, 2003)

dadNson said:


> Can some one tell me about the black spots in my bule gill fellets are they safe to eat or not????


you should probably send the gills over to my house for analysis, I'll PM you the address. If I find no issues you'll know they're ok in the future. 

on a more serious note, if you want to read up about it while your gills are cooking, here ya go

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364_10950-27376--,00.html


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## bassdisaster (Jun 21, 2007)

Looks like Fish, smells like fish, eats fish, MUST be fish!
cook it up, eat it, black spots are not grub's, the yellow/white grub's are GRUBS, but they are, as the other post stated "HARMLESS", a turn off.......ya, but cook em up and eat them, you will never know they were there, taste or otherwise!


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## RyanK (Jun 2, 2004)

This reminds me of an article I read in either Outdoor Life or Woods-n-Water a few years back. Some group was talking about cleaning up the waters of lake erie around the fermi plant because it was causing tumors to grow in the fish. Well, SOME of the outdoorsmen who fish the area complained about the efforts because they said the tumors added a new dimension of flavor to the fillets. LOL. It sounds like a joke but it was indeed a real article. You guys are disgusting. Im not eating any worms or parasites or tumors that are visible to the naked eye. I dont care if they are safe. You can eat insects too but that doesnt mean I want to just because its safe. :lol:


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## bigshot846 (Apr 30, 2008)

ive had the white grubs in the fillets, i just cut em out but when you cook em im sure you kill them off anyway


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## mooney373 (Sep 30, 2008)

I have fished since forever, and never heard of such a thing! I'm glad I found this thread... Thank you all- I probably would have thrown them away had I not read this!


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## dobes (Feb 16, 2007)

If you hold a fillet up to the light you will notice if the worm or worms are in there. You will see a darker spot in the meat, just a bb size kinda shadow spot. If you notice it , just cut it out. Its kinda gross because they still move around and look like a small maggot. Makes you knda lose your appetite. I caught a bass once that had at least a hundred of them in it. I felt bad but had to toss it. I'm sure thay cant hurt you, but I'm not into eating parasites.


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