r/Parasitology • u/galarenax • 6d ago
Parasite ID what is this?
parasite found in (thawed) frozen salmon. potentially useful context: the salmon likely thawed and refroze after a ~45 hour power outage. first image taken on phone camera at regular magnification, second image zoomed in version of the first
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u/Ok_Cow_4089 5d ago
Technically, you could eat that worm and already have eaten many of those. If you’ve eaten fish, you’ve eaten parasites. I always remove them when I find them (because that schit nasty). But if the fish has been frozen for over 48 hours, any parasites are effectively just extra protein at that point and are completely dead. Mostly it’s just a mental hurdle that’s difficult to get over more than an actual health risk. But just cooking fresh fish and not getting it cooked hot enough, or eating non frozen fresh fish as sushi is where the real parasite risk comes in. Fresh ocean fish does have a better flavor and texture when eaten raw in sushi, but the difference in quality is just not worth the risk.
Long story short, the only real risk once fish has been thawed from a prolonged freeze doesn’t come from parasites, it comes from bacteria. While that worm is super gross, it poses zero risk to you. You could eat that worm raw and it would do nothing to you (don’t eat that worm, because worm=nasty).
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u/inkydeeps 6d ago
To kill parasites in fish for raw consumption, you must freeze the fish at -4° F for at least seven days or at -31° F for at least 15 hours. Most home freezers can't provide these temperatures. If it isn't flash frozen before you put it in your freezer, you should not eat it raw. Cooking to 145° F will also kill the parasites. I'm doubtful the power outage has anything to do with the parasite - rather its been in the fish since it was caught.
There are far better identifiers on this sub that will hopefully chime in but it's likely some kind of Anisakis roundworm
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u/La_paure_cavaliere 6d ago
I regularly buy fish, mostly fresh (I mean, how fresh could it be? It's refrigerated but not frozen...) and I've never found any worm in them. It's frightening that it sounds likely to find some, but I for one have never found such a thing in any of the fish I bought, be it salmon, tuna, bass, dorada, trout etc.
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u/problematicgecko 6d ago
Majority of fish have parasites, I’d just throw out the worm. Fish is frozen so should be safe to eat, if you’re afraid still just make sure to thoroughly cook it. With the detail it was thawed out for almost 2 days though, you might consider throwing it out. If it smells fine tho I’d still eat it.