Worm or maggot found within a white fish!?

Question

Serving lemon sole to my small family, I was cooking it the usual way (beaten, seasoned egg and coated in breadcrumbs to fry it off in oil). As I cooked it I noticed that after the last slice still in the fry pan (had broken up) and that with the heat?.. it really seemed that, out of the fish jumped over to a spare vacant piece of frying pan. It was about 3" long and as thin as thread and wriggled. Eeewoow! Can anyone tell me what that might have been, surely NOT a worm, perhaps it must've ben a bit of the fish itself. It was although the heat made it jump out of the flesh of the fish. Was bought from supermarket chain, fresh fish, prepacked & sealed at the counter.

Answer 1

Fish are full of worms...apparently they will not harm you and are safe to eat....not for me thank you very much, I'm glad I'm a veggie!

Edit

Jacob H
Vegetarians most certainly do NOT eat fish...see this link from the Vegetarian Society of the UK, the oldest veg society in the world...
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/definitions.html

Answer 2

Don't worry. They are not tapeworms and they will not harm you. It is not the supermarkets fault.
Most all of the white fish (cod, halibut etc.) have them. The supermarket employees pull out any that they see, but others are buried in the fish flesh. Sometimes you will see one on the top, one that has died will discolour. Cod fish are the worst for having worms. If you buy halibut, usually the cheeks have more worms. You don't usually see the worms, you cook the fish and the worms cook right with it, it is unusual that the worm jumped right out.

Answer 3

Just today I started to prepare lemon sole for dinner. I just broil it in lemon and butter. I happen to turn one of the pieces over before putting it in the pan and saw this very thin circular spot and knew right away it was a worm. I knew there was no way I was going to be cooking any of that fish, but I wanted to make sure what I saw really was a worm. So I cut that small piece of fish off and the worm fell out and started wiggling around. I could have vomited. I m a nurse and unfortunately I have to know what different worms look like and this was a hook worm. GROSS!!!!
I know even if I hadn t seen it and cooked the fish it would have died and nothing would have happened....That didn t matter. There was no way I was serving that fish to my son or myself. I put the worm back on the fish and wrapped it up good. I called the fish department of my local "gourmet" food store and they were appalled. She told me to freeze the fish and return it ASAP......I asked her why she wanted me to freeze it, and she said "so it doesn t go bad". Why would that matter unless she plans on selling it again.......REALLY GROSS!!

Answer 4

Sorry but you can and do get worms in fish.
They are generally not harmful, although they are obviously unpleasant.
They hide in the flesh or belly of the fish and can be near the surface (where they might be visible) or deeper in (where you probably won't know they are there).
Supermarkets, restaurants and retailers do their best to limit the amount of infested fish that enters the food chain, but it's not always possible to spot.
Bit more info in the link below.

Answer 5

Worms In Swordfish

Answer 6

sounds like a tape worm, the fish was not prepared properly before packaging otherwise it wouldnt have been there.
did you not see the t.v program about sainsburys and tesco's that got caught out cutting bits off of fish and meat that were out of date and going off and putting them on display?
their suppliers were packagng chicken and other foods for the supermarkets branded not fit for human consumption.

butchers and fishmongers are the only way to ensure a better quality of meat and fish, even though they are a little more expensive.

Answer 7

Most fish, cod especially, are sea scavengers and have to be gutted and completely disinfected of worms before being sold on supermarket shelves. Unfortunately, some do often still remain but will not harm you if you eat them. It's just not nice to think about!

Answer 8

The only fish I've heard of having worms is swordfish. My sister is a waitress in an upscale restaurant and said the chef has shown her swordfish with worms. Apparently it's quite common in large fish like that. I hope that's not what was in your fish! Yuck :(

Answer 9

It was a worm. Fish do have parasites in them.
This is from a website I found: http://beyondsalmon.blogspot.com/2006/09/parasites-in-fish-part-1-cod-worm.html

Today, our special guest will be cod worm. I remember my first encounter with this critter about 4 years ago. As I unwrapped a cod fillet, I was greeted by a little worm squirming out of the fish. Good thing I heard about these worms before, or I would have thrown the fish in the trash and never set foot into that fish market (actually, it happened to be Whole Foods). In spite of my initial disgust (I am the kind of person who screams at the sight of an itsy-bitsy spider), I inspected the fillet, removed the worms and cooked the fish. It tasted just fine, and as you can see, I lived to tell the tale. These little worms are the pain of any fishmonger's existence because they freak the hell out of consumers. They are particularly common in white fish (cod, haddock, flounder, sole, and halibut), but I've also seen them in swordfish and monkfish. How often do you see them as a consumer? I cook fish at least 3 times a week and I'll see them a few times a year.

To prevent us, consumers, from having to look at these unsightly animals, the fish processors put all white fish through a process called "candling." They put the fillets on glass sitting over a lamp. This allows them to see through the fillet and remove any visible parasites. Think about this process as an airport inspection -- it makes everyone feel better, but it's not full-proof. On occasion, a few worms can escape the inspection and travel from the fish processing facility to your fishmonger and then to your kitchen. If this happens to you, don't panic. Remove the worms, and cook your fish the usual way. If you don't want to cook your fish after seeing the worms, I quite understand. Just don't go out of your way to ruin the fishmonger's reputation. The presence of worms has nothing to do with the freshness of the fish and I assure you that your fishmonger tried his or her hardest to protect you from this terrible experience. Last thing they want to happen is for you to find worms in your fish, but unfortunately this does happen sometimes.

What happens if you eat a cod worm? If it's dead, which it's bound to be if you cooked your fish to opaque state (or 140F), nothing at all happens. Even if you prefer your fish cooked a little less (120-130F) like I do, the odds of you eating a live worm are very slim. It would have to be a really hardy worm to survive those temperatures. If you are serving fish raw, and one of those guys manages to stay intact after you sliced the fish, and makes it all the way to your tummy intact, you are in trouble. Your stomach will eventually kill them, but since they originate in seals, they can get quite comfy in any mammal including us humans making the experience extremely unpleasant. As Dr. Palm puts it, “It is better not to eat them alive.”

I hope I've helped.

Answer 10

after trimming filet s off my 3 1/2 pound Small mouth Bass I discovered numerous tiny little worm like critters in the meat. Threw away, as it grossed me out. Never seen before