Turbot Parasite?

[ncleeno]

This question actually concerns a dead turbot purchased and filleted at a food shop. We didn't look carefully at it before frying, but after frying we noticed something resembling a yellow flower/sea anemone embedded in the flesh, one on each side of the fish. They faced inwards, towards the interior of the fish's belly, i.e. would not have been visible from the outside of the fish. Next to the "flower" was a bump or swelling in the flesh. We cut away the flesh surrounding one of these "flowers" and discovered that the hole in the middle of the "flower" led into a "capsule". The bulkiness of the "capsule" was what caused the bump in the flesh. Upon opening the "capsule", we noted that its interior was hollow, smooth and white, ending in an appendix-like structure, while its exterior was bumpy, like a wart under a microscope, and slightly yellow-tinged. The "capsule" was soft and about 3 cm long; the "flower" was also soft and about 1 cm in diameter. Is this a normal internal organ, a cyst, or a parasite? We've eaten a lot of turbot but never saw this before.

 

[Bugdozer]

Without seeing it I am unsure from your description alone, but the capsule sounds like it could be an encysted plerocercoid tapeworm larva. Unless they were symmetrical on both sides of the fish. I've not seen these in real life though, so I could be far wrong.

 

[ncleeno]

Apparently it's a part of the digestive system called a pyloric caecum, similar to the human appendix.  At least that's what a science teacher at the local high school told me when I showed him one that I found in a turbot yesterday.  I took a picture of it after it had fried for a few seconds, which is why the color has started to change from pink to white.

 

[RCA]

Yuck, whatever it is, hope you did not eat the fish?
Hopefully Bugdozer knows what it is from the picture?

 

[ncleeno]

Yup, I ate the fish both times.  The first time, I was so tired I ate the thingamajig as well, before I thought of taking a picture of it... and I'm still here to tell the TAIL...  I forgot to say that the thing was originally straight; it's the frying that caused the small end to point upwards.  The strange part is that it seemed rather unconnected to the rest of the digestive system, which was removed by the fishmonger.  Bugdozer, where are you?

 

[RCA]

Yuck, I would feel

 if I had done that 

Apparently it's a part of the digestive system called a pyloric caecum, similar to the human appendix.  At least that's what a science teacher at the local high school told me when I showed him one that I found in a turbot yesterday.  I took a picture of it after it had fried for a few seconds, which is why the color has started to change from pink to white...

 
I found this image of what you are describing, at lease it is not a tapeworm!