Spotted Sea Trout Worms

The worms are easily removed during filleting to make the meat more appealing.

Spotted sea trout worms. Most common in sea trout is Poecilancistrium caryophyllum. It cannot survive in humans even if consumed raw. Some of the trout you catch may have worms embed-ded in the flesh along the backbone.

While the worms are not appealingthere is no reason not to eat the fish. Spotted seatrout are vulnerable to winter kills when water temperatures drop below 40 degrees which is not that uncommon in the northern part of their range. For ease of discussion we will dispose of these tongue-twisting Latin names and refer to them all as spaghetti worms.

Back-to-back winter kills in 2009 and 2010 hurt fish stocks in the Southeast but the species rebounded well. This bait can and does vary from region to region so where you fish can determine what bait to use. 15022010 The spotted seatrout actually isnt a trout at all at least its not a member of the trout family.

Some trout caught may have worms embedded in the flesh along the backbone. When a cold front hits the fish generally move to deeper water but some do not make it quickly enough. Fishermen frequently find these white one to three inch long worms when filleting their catch.

Texas Parks and Wildlife assures that these worms cannot survive in humans and wont cause illness though you may want to remove the worms before cooking and eating the fish. The spec is a member of the drum family and is related to the croaker the black drum and the redfish or red drum. Worms found in black drum are most often Pseudogrillotia pIeistacantha.

Infected fish appear to have long thin worms tunneled in the flesh. The spotted seatrout is a member of the croaker family Sciaenidae and is a first cousin to the Atlantic croaker red drum black drum and sand seatrout. Spotted seatrout are similar to two other species but are easily distinguished by their spots.