Photo courtesy Dr. Richad Kocan, University of Washington. Sometimes there'd only be two or three in the whole filleted-out side of a king salmon. Sometimes you'd see it on the heart muscle. It looked like salt sprinkled on the heart muscle. Sometimes there's evidence of it in the liver and spleen.
White spots indicate infected king salmon heart.
Photo courtesy Dr. Richad Kocan, University of Washington. With funding from the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, Dr. Richard Kocan, a fish pathologist at the University of Washington, examined more samples and confirmed the finding. Kocan says Ichthyophonus is common in fish all over the world. But it had only rarely shown up in Yukon River salmon. The parasite can be deadly to salmon, but isn't harmful to people.