Fish with Skin Cancer in Lake Memphremagog | Burlington News

Burlington News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Aug 4, 2026 · 1m

In Lake Memphremagog, scientists have uncovered a bizarre and rare phenomenon: a transmissible cancer spreading among brown bullhead catfish—despite living in pitch-black waters where sunlight can’t reach. First noticed in 2012, the black skin lesions turned out to be melanoma, genetically identical across all affected fish, suggesting the cancer is jumping from one fish to another. Now, researchers from Vermont, Canada, and even the University of Cambridge are collaborating to unravel how this cancer spreads—and whether it could threaten other aquatic ecosystems. While it’s safe to eat the…