Caught this fish in Ovid today. It was quite sickening! The wounds on the cheek were very deep. The other side of the fish looked normal.
Anyone know for sure what caused it? VHS, maybe?
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I know that the smile layer on esox, and salmonids are very important in protecting them from bacterial and fungal infections. it seems to be where someone may have held the fish while releasing it. thats why they say to make sure your hand/net, and anything else you touch a fish with is wet. The infections look fungal to me..but you never know. theres a lot of bacteria that become necrotizing in fish that are immunocomprimised.
I used to catch pike on Muskegon Lake that had similar open sores/lesions. I took a picture of one to a DNR officer. He said it's lymphosarcoma, a type of cancer pike get. I would assume, as they're members of the Esox family, that muskies could get it too.
They're maybe another answer, but from the pic, that's what it looked like to me.
Charlie
I emailed the pics to Kregg Smith, one of our DNR fisheries biologists, and he responded:
"Kregg Smith" said:
Tom,It looks like a bacterial infection, likely from the genus staphylococcus. Without testing it we can't be certain, but in any case you should disinfect your net and boat that came in contact with this fish to prevent it from spreading to other fish or other waters.
Likewise if you ever catch a fish like this or catch this one in Lake Ovid, even though it is under the legal limit, you should remove it from the population to prevent this from infecting other fish. You have the authority to do this to protect the resources of the state. There are exceptions like this that allow anglers to remove fish under our Fish Disease Control Orders.
I wish I knew that then! I've asked him for the best way to destroy it, and will report back when I hear.
Answer from Kregg:
"Kregg Smith" said:
Tom,
Put it in the trash so that other animals or people don't come in contact with it. If you put it on the shore bacteria can survive outside the host, in the soil, or water. So the best thing to do is throw it in the trash. And then disinfect your gear as well.
"Will Schultz" said:
Piranha!Seriously though… Was it that way on both sides or just one? It makes me think there was initial damage then infection that caused those wounds.
It's in my FP:
"Hemichemi" said:
The other side of the fish looked normal.
Maybe a spawning wound that got infected. Makes sense. I've seen some pretty chewed-up fish after the spawn.
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