I was doing some stomach content analysis on Lumpenus lampretaeformis (snakeblenny). This is what I found in several stomachs of snakeblenny (see pictures). I've never seen this before.
The fish was caught in the baltic sea (near Fehmarn) in summer of 2020.
Does anyone know something about it?
Hi Linda,
since you found them in the wild, did you consider microplastic particles? If you re-suspend them in water again, do they float? That's probably an easy test but there's more to consider if you really want to characterize it in case it's plastic. The NOAA has a short manual on this: https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/file/2538
-Andre
These look like they could be a parasite. I would suggest looking into trematoda.
Thanks for your ideas guys!
I got some help and I now know: these are gizzard plates of the gastropod 'Philinidae' (maybe philine aperta).
For those who are interested, here are two interesting papers about it: Systematics and Phylogeny of Philine (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia), with Emphasis on the Philine aperta Species Complex (Price et al. 2011); The gizzard plates in the Cephalaspidean gastropod Philine quadripartita: Analysis of structure and function (Shepelenko et al. 2015).
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