Poor fishy

[Chenari]

I feel kinda sorry for this Perch. He had two HUGE parasites, one on each gill cover. He was very evasive, but I finally managed to get this halfway decent shot of him, you can see the parasite on his right side. He had one about the same size on his other side. Are these things hurting him at all or are they like most other parasites and just sit there for the sake of sitting there?

http://i50.tinypic.com/w9xphv.jpg

[Greg Jensen]

Parasites (by definition) are hurting their hosts by feeding on them. He's having a tough time- looks like something bit off half his tail too.

[Chenari]

Yeah but I know that some of the critters that stick to fish in this area are relatively harmless, even in big numbers. Is this Perch in any danger from them?

[Greg Jensen]

He'll probably be OK. This looks like a big isopod; unlike a lot of the other parasites it is only on there temporarily and will let go once it's full.

[Chenari]

Ah ok. So is it feeding off the Perch's blood like a Mosquito or is it eating something else?

[Greg Jensen]

It's feeding on blood- but sucking a lot more of it than any mosquito could. They stay on a host for about a week, then take about four days off to digest before finding another victim.

[Chenari]

Wow so that's like an Uber Mosquito, lol.

[dwashbur]

Wow so that's like an Uber Mosquito, lol.

Or a baby vampire??????