Something weird nibbled my wifes leg while launching today

[Roundeye]

Originally Posted by Fiskadoro

Was there a pattern to the nicks or were they dispersed?

A Leopord shark could bite you in the surf but it would have to be a pretty decent sized one and she'd of definitely known it was a shark when it bit her. It also would leave a jaw shaped pattern of nicks or cuts.

I'd say more likely would be a tiny crustacean or isopod.

A while back I did some Surf fishing up above Morro Bay with my girlfriend and her daughter.



Some of the spots we had to get in the water to fish, and at one point the daughter told me that something was biting her while we were wading and fishing. Sure enough when I checked her ankles she had several little nicks or bites smaller then a pinhead like you'd get from a deerfly. While I was checking them out I saw one of the culprits a small 3/8 inch long isopod swim over grab onto her ankle and bite her right in front of me.

It looked like this:


Kind of a smaller version of the kind of isopods you occasionally find in the mouths and gills of surfperch or lizard fish. The thing was fast, a good swimmer, when I tried to catch it I couldn't.

What was interesting was that they only went after the five year old daughter and left her mother and I alone. So I ended up carrying the daughter around on my shoulders whenever we wade fished the rest of the trip.

That's the only time I've seen anyone actually get bit by something in the surf in California. I have seen people that got scraped up by the spines on a thornback ray, but they make scratches in a linear pattern which tend to inflame and really sting.

If I had to guess I'd say it was isopod or something similar, but it's hard to tell without seeing it or looking at the bites.

Jim

Interesting... would have never guessed you were the women chaser type !