Injury or something more?

[greeno1645]

My pink square anthius was added a week ago. Bought him from my LFS who had him for 3 weeks - eating and doing great in their shop.

At home, he hid for a few days, but is out and about , feeding great, and as far as I can tell, acting normal.

But, as you can see in the photo, near the tail is a vertical light patch… kind of looks like an injury, but I’m not sure.

I guess it’s possible he had the injury prior to bringing him home, but I don’t recall seeing it.

Tank inhabitants are a fang blenny, hermit crabs, snails, mushrooms, and cleaner shrimp.

Water quality tests spot on.

Seems to enjoy visiting the cleaner shrimp, but it’s not clear to me that anything parasitic is going on, neither.

Thoughts?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef

See how the lesion is angled forward? That is a common sign in internal Uronema infections. This is a pretty common issue in green chromis and anthias. I hope it isn't that because it isn't treatable - the protozoan that causes it lives deep in the fish's muscle tissue and you can't effectively medicate that. External Uronema can be treated with chloroquine. Here is an article I wrote about this issue:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[greeno1645]

Welcome to Reef2Reef

See how the lesion is angled forward? That is a common sign in internal Uronema infections. This is a pretty common issue in green chromis and anthias. I hope it isn't that because it isn't treatable - the protozoan that causes it lives deep in the fish's muscle tissue and you can't effectively medicate that. External Uronema can be treated with chloroquine. Here is an article I wrote about this issue:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thanks for the insight... I guess we watch and wait.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the insight... I guess we watch and wait.

Yes - if it is Uronema, then progression will be pretty rapid, If it is just an injury, it doesn't look infected, so it should heal on its own.

If it is Uronema, the anthias will stop feeding and begin breathing rapidly and the lesion will turn red and bloody. The fish often die with their mouth's wide open.

Luckily, if it is internal Uronema, it really is not contagious to other fish.

Jay

 

[greeno1645]

Yes - if it is Uronema, then progression will be pretty rapid, If it is just an injury, it doesn't look infected, so it should heal on its own.

If it is Uronema, the anthias will stop feeding and begin breathing rapidly and the lesion will turn red and bloody. The fish often die with their mouth's wide open.

Luckily, if it is internal Uronema, it really is not contagious to other fish.

Jay

Ok. Well, if this should happen, I'll try and take photos...perhaps the documentation will be of some value.
Is there anything I could have observed that might have tipped me off that the anthius was carrying this parasite?
This shop is pretty good... they kept the fish for 3 weeks, until it was eating and swimming about before selling it.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ok. Well, if this should happen, I'll try and take photos...perhaps the documentation will be of some value.
Is there anything I could have observed that might have tipped me off that the anthius was carrying this parasite?
This shop is pretty good... they kept the fish for 3 weeks, until it was eating and swimming about before selling it.

No - there is no way to predict internal Uronema, until the fish shows the angular lesion, there is no symptom. It isn't the shop's fault, there is no way to prevent this, the fish pick it up during their travels in the supply chain, nobody knows how.

Fingers crossed that this isn't the problem here.....


Jay

 

[greeno1645]

No - there is no way to predict internal Uronema, until the fish shows the angular lesion, there is no symptom. It isn't the shop's fault, there is no way to prevent this, the fish pick it up during their travels in the supply chain, nobody knows how.

Fingers crossed that this isn't the problem here.....


Jay

Just an FYI - that was definitely the issue… fish died the next day. Fortunately, my fang blenny appears none the worse, and I have no other fish in the tank.

Guess I’ll avoid species susceptible to that parasite.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Just an FYI - that was definitely the issue… fish died the next day. Fortunately, my fang blenny appears none the worse, and I have no other fish in the tank.

Guess I’ll avoid species susceptible to that parasite.

Thanks for the info.

Sorry to hear, but the way it ended is pretty typical of Uronema.
Jay