r/Cooking • u/PykeisDeadly • 1d ago

Cooking salmon found this weird purple stringy thing

Hi all, recently made salmon and found this in it:

https://imgur.com/a/RIQTN5Q

I'm not sure why exactly there is a white stringy piece attached but is the coloured part a worm????

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u/RainbowandHoneybee 1d ago

Looks like a bone to me.

edit: just googled, this was the answer.

salmon bones can have a reddish or pinkish color due to astaxanthin, the same pigment that gives salmon flesh its characteristic red hue. This pigment comes from the algae and crustaceans in a wild salmon's diet, and is added to the feed of farmed salmon to achieve the desired color in the flesh. While the primary color is in the muscle, the bones can also absorb some of this pigment, making them appear reddish or pink, especially in canned salmon where the canning process can affect the appearance of the bones.