Why do speckled trout have worms?


Most speckled trout have worms in their meat because a parasitic worm uses the speckled trout as part of its strange life cycle.

Scientists believe that the worm's life cycle goes something like this:

1. The worm's life cycle starts in the intestines of a shark where adult worms lay their eggs;
2. Their eggs are expelled in shark poop;
3. The eggs hatch into small larva once exposed to salt water;
4. At this point small copepods and other marine creatures eat the worm larva;
5. Small shrimp and fish eat those creatures that feed on the larva;
6. Speckled trout eat those shrimp and small fish and are infected by the worms;
7. Then a shark eats the trout a few years later and the worms end up right back in the shark's intestines where the life cycle starts all over again.

There are many parasitic worms that use members of the drum family for part of their life cycles. Redfish, black drum, speckled trout and croakers often have these same types of worms in their bodies.

​Watch the video below to learn more.  

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​Why do speckled trout have worms?

I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have fished for speckled trout all over the state for more than 40 years. The parasitic worms have become more prevalent in the meat of the trout over the last few years in my part of Florida.

There are many parts of the state where I have seen very little evidence of worms in the meat of the speckled trout. In my area of the Treasure Coast most of the speckled trout have worms in their meat. Especially the larger ones.

The smaller keepers between 15 and 17 inches usually do not have many worms but anything larger than that usually has a few. I think that the bigger trout have a much higher probability of eating an infected shrimp or fish than the smaller ones and that is why many of the young ones haven't been infected yet.

In Northwest Florida the speckled trout have very few, if any worms in their meat. Down in the Everglades the speckled trout have very few worms either. This may be because the water salinity levels are higher in those areas. You will find out why this may be a factor later on in the article.

These worms are often called spaghetti worms because they look a lot like angel hair pasta. They are up to 8 inches long when they are mature and living in the intestines of a shark. Those that are found in the speckled trout are usually only one to three inches long.

The speckled trout usually have than right under their dorsal fin in the thick part of the fillets. Black drum usually have them back by their tail meat. These different drum species are usually infected by different spaghetti worm species but scientists think that their parasitic life cycles are similar.

Some studies have shown that upwards of 40% of all speckled trout in the waters of Mississippi and Louisiana are infected with some type of parasitic worm species. Those studies showed an average number of worms to be 1 to 2 worms per fish. This might be because the trout seems to become immune from further infections once they have worms in them.

You would think that the older and larger trout would have more worms in their meat, but that is not the case. A 30 inch speckled trout that is infected will have the same number of worms as an infected 15 inch speckled trout. This is why scientists think that the fish has an immune response that limits the amount of worms that they can be infected with.

The amount of worm infections seems to be related to the amount of salt in the water and the amount of pollution in the water. Ironically, the less polluted the water is, the more parasitic worms are found in the trout in that area.

This might mean that one of the carriers of the worm may need very salty and clean water to survive.

Do you want to learn how to catch more speckled trout or are you grossed out at this point?

Check out our speckled trout page.

These worms are very easy to see and to pick out of the speckled trout fillets. Just take your knife and flick them out. They are very white and easy to distinguish from the meat of the fish.

Even if you miss one it will not hurt you to eat it. Cooking the fillet will kill any worms that you do not find when filleting your fish. Just don't let your guests see you filleting the specks and they will keep eating your fish.

Scientists believe that this particular type of worm cannot infect warm blooded animals even if you were eating speckled trout sushi. I wouldn't suggest that but if you want to go for it and let me know if anything happens.

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Conclusion:

Speckled trout are one of the most sought after inshore fish species because they are such a good eating fish. The parasitic spaghetti worms do not seem to stop too many people from eating specks.

That might be because people do not notice them and just cook the trout with them in the meat. In my family, we just pick them out and fry them right up. Whatever works for you I guess. No one that I know has ever gotten sick from the worms themselves. I have seen a few people gag after we told them that the specks that they just ate had worms in them before we cooked them.

I hope that this article answers the question, "Why do speckled trout have worms?"


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