Tapeworms in crabs, huh???

[Jeff Nance]

Hey Nelly, I was cleaning my crabs tonight and found 3 out of the 4 had tapeworms. What the heck is going on with all these tapeworms lately? I have found them in several salmon I have kept, and now crabs? I didn't think tapeworms liked the salt water

[Nelly]

This is gonna sound a little weird but,...

Can I see a picture of your worms?

Don't go all Brett Favre on me now....

Seriously though, there are lots of marine parasitic organisms that resemble worms. The types that you find in fresh water have similarities but without a description or a pic, it would be tough to key it out.

How did your wormy crabs taste?

[Jeff Nance]

I didn't take a photo...they were white, about 10-12 inches long, and about a 1/4 inch in diameter. From all the photos I have seen, they look exactly like a tapeworm. Each crab had about 4-5 of them in the center cavity. The crabs that I got from Fisherman's Bay did not have them...the crabs I took from Humphrey Head area were covered in barnacles, and they had the worms inside.

[Fishee]

This is gonna sound a little weird but,...

Can I see a picture of your worms?

I was wondering why would this sound weird? Tape worms are gross, or any other type of parasites.

I paused for a second...then i ...