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try again.  not a member?   October 25, 2001  Saltwater
Parasites  Unlike remoras that attach and release, these
parasites make a permanent home on gamefish.  Q: While on a
fishing trip to Mazatlan, Mexico, I photographed these three
disgusting parasites attached to a dead striped marlin at the
dock. They were alive and had some sort of moving, feathered
claws opening and closing at the ends. What are they? Are they
common? What is their life cycle and how do they affect their
hosts? - Dwayne Flebbish, Salt Lake City, Utah  A: According to
Ron Thune and Al Camus at the Aquatic Animal Disease Diagnostic
Lab, Louisiana State University Department of Veterinary
Microbiology and Parasitology, they are probably a form of
parasitic copepod crustacean, possibly from the family
Pennellidae. This family includes species that are particularly
harmful to fish. They burrow deeply into their host's flesh,
sucking their blood and causing severe wounds and ulc