Unknown Neurological Wrasse Disease (UNWD)

[Mark Hyman]

My pintail seems no better tonight and quite a bit weaker. Is there any reason to hold out hope and give him a bit longer, or is it time for the clove oil/vodka protocol?

 

[karsa]

Just found this thread. I had a naoko wrasse that was swimming tail down after quarantine and just vanished about 2 weeks later. 1st unexplained fish death I’d had and bugged me. Sounds very similar to this.

 

[Been Caught Reefin]

I’ve given up on fairy wrasses. Tried multiple times with them and they all end up with this eventually. After probably 5 attempts, and all fell to this within 3 months. I thought I got through it with and Pink Margin and Red Head Solon. Both were fat and healthy for a year, then all of a sudden one got the bent spine and died. Then about 6 months later the other dies the same way.

I read it could be Uronema in the spine, so I did a DNA test with Aquabiomics and everything was negative. No clue what it could be, but these 2 died the same way after a healthy year in the tank maybe 6 months a part. Possibly an injury, who knows. Either way, I give up on them. Shame because they are beautiful fish.

 

[pacificnewt]

I’ve seen countless posts about this mystery affliction and I believe Ryan from BRS discussed this happening to one of his wrasses recently if I’m not mistaken. I wonder if wholesalers maintain any data surrounding how many and what type of fish they lose during the process. If so, I bet you’d find some super interesting trends. If this is phenomenon is truly the result of a pathogen (which seems likely), I’m sure you could reliably find that pathogen in the wholesalers systems in high numbers.

 

[MarineKyle]

Thank you for the information. Always good to have more knowledge. Even if

 

[MarineKyle]

This sounds exactly like what happened to my wrasses. I had a melanarus wrasse die suddenly after i had cleaned my tank. I contributed this to ammonia poison due to the quick and sudden erratic swimming before he died, but then about 2 weeks later my red spot wrasse which i had for about 6 mths started laying in the sand. I noticed that he had a bent spine, and laying in the sand. I watched him a few days and he would swim around fine then go back to laying in the sand. I eventually took him out and put him in a QT tank. I treated him with copper and prazipro to be safe. I never saw any signs of disease on him. It looked like he had a spinal injury, but no physical damage. I would feed him and he would try to swim to eat. But then go back to laying upside down. He seemed fine and not sick during that time just wasnt able to swim, just layed upside down in the tank. He did this for about 2 weeks,I Kept thinking he might get better but eventually died. Didnt react like any other disease i ever encountered. And even after dying didnt show any signs of illness. But after reading your article i think he probably had this neurological disease. Sounds exactly like the symptoms you are describing. Couldnt figure out what had happened, Thanks for the information.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

My pintail seems no better tonight and quite a bit weaker. Is there any reason to hold out hope and give him a bit longer, or is it time for the clove oil/vodka

If the fish is weak to the point of not eating, you should consider euthanasia. Here is an article I wrote on that:

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This sounds exactly like what happened to my wrasses. I had a melanarus wrasse die suddenly after i had cleaned my tank. I contributed this to ammonia poison due to the quick and sudden erratic swimming before he died, but then about 2 weeks later my red spot wrasse which i had for about 6 mths started laying in the sand. I noticed that he had a bent spine, and laying in the sand. I watched him a few days and he would swim around fine then go back to laying in the sand. I eventually took him out and put him in a QT tank. I treated him with copper and prazipro to be safe. I never saw any signs of disease on him. It looked like he had a spinal injury, but no physical damage. I would feed him and he would try to swim to eat. But then go back to laying upside down. He seemed fine and not sick during that time just wasnt able to swim, just layed upside down in the tank. He did this for about 2 weeks,I Kept thinking he might get better but eventually died. Didnt react like any other disease i ever encountered. And even after dying didnt show any signs of illness. But after reading your article i think he probably had this neurological disease. Sounds exactly like the symptoms you are describing. Couldnt figure out what had happened, Thanks for the information.

One key difference with this disease though - it only affects newly acquired fish (typically within 2 months of acquisition). Your fish had been in your tank longer than that, so it is likely to be UNWD. The Melanurus sure sounds like it could have been from physical damage.

 

[MarineKyle]

Well thanks Jay for your insight. I'm new to saltwater, I have had multiple freshwater tanks all my life, but recently got into saltwater about 2 years ago. I have had my tank crash twice, and have had to start over. I started with a fish only tank, didn't want to introduce coral until I learn more. I really love the look of wrasses and their personality in the tank. They seem to be going great one minute and then randomly just pass away. I know saltwater fish are very delicate and have tried to keep the tank perimeters in check, however the fish seem to thrive for awhile then suddenly develop a terminal illness. Still learning how to regulate my tank for longevity. Thanks again.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Def been seeing this lately. Seems to be contagious as well. Had 2 wrasses in qt and one developed symptoms a day after arrival and one showed the same symptoms approximately 5 days afterwards. Both passed within 4 days.

Not something I've see before but concerning that it's appearing so frequently so rapidly. Hopefully this doesn't become an epidemic

 

[Matthew P]

Unknown Neurological Wrasse disease (UNWD)

There is a disease that afflicts newly acquired wrasses, usually Cirrhilabrus fairy wrasses or flasher wrasses, Pseudocheilinus, but occasionally other species as well. The gross visual symptoms are always the same; the fish shows a rapid onset of neurological symptoms where it either cannot swim well, swims tail down or swims with a bent spine. The other key symptom is that despite this, these wrasses will still attempt to feed. Most aquarists attribute the symptoms to some sort of an injury, such as running into the side of the tank. The trouble with that diagnosis is that these fish do not show external damage (bumped snouts, etc.) that would be expected from such an injury. Other hypothesis include barotrauma from deep water collection, or the use of cyanide to collect these fish. The trouble with these possible causes is that symptoms in other types of fish are known, and are different; emaciation in cyanide collection and swim bladder issues in cases of barotrauma. Mycobacterium has also been implicated, but that issue is more often present in long term captive fish, not newly acquired ones as in these instances.

Eventually, the affected fish becomes weaker and either needs to be euthanized, or dies spontaneously. To date, there is no known cure and the mortality rate seems to be 100%. All that can be said is that it is an unknown peripheral neurological disease. It does not seem to be highly contagious from wrasse to wrasse. The causative agent is possibly viral, but could also be nerve damage from nematodes or from microsporidians. Since the fish still tries to feed, it is unlikely the brain is affected, more likely only the spinal column or muscle nerves.

I recognized my first case of this syndrome in a Carpenter's wrasse in 2018. In 2020, I began noticing a trend of similar cases in other people's aquariums. It is unclear if this issue is newly developing, or had just gone unnoticed prior to this time.

That’s great info. Now something i ever thought of.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Def been seeing this lately. Seems to be contagious as well. Had 2 wrasses in qt and one developed symptoms a day after arrival and one showed the same symptoms approximately 5 days afterwards. Both passed within 4 days.

Not something I've see before but concerning that it's appearing so frequently so rapidly. Hopefully this doesn't become an epidemic

Yes - the question as to if this is contagious or not is still open. Certainly groups of wrasse, newly acquired can all show symptoms, but it is pretty rare (i.e. - I've never seen it happen) that a long term captive wrasse will develop this issue after being exposed to new wrasse that were added to the tank.

 

[Mark Hyman]

If the fish is weak to the point of not eating, you should consider euthanasia. Here is an article I wrote on that:

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks Jay- had seen your article and unfortunately had to use this method several years ago. My wrasse still is interested in food and I think he fed a bit today, but he's so uncoordinated it's quite hard for him. I'm going to see how he does tomorrow morning; if he can't feed, I'll have to make the call. Appreciate the help.

 

[Mark Hyman]

Had to euthanize my pintail; will watch my orangeback fairy and yellowfin flasher and hope not to see a recurrence. Appreciate all the input- this community is a great resource for people trying to do right by their wet friends.

 

[One Reefing Boi]

Just lost 2 new yellow “Cori’s” wrasse to maybe this? From a QT online vendor. Both were fine and happy and swimming. 2 days later one of them was breathing heavily on the bottom of tank and a few hours later was picked to the bones by my CuC. Now 2 days after that I just get in from work and my other yellow wrasse is behaving the same. Bumping into things, breathing hard. I doubt it makes it through the night and my tank is too stocked with SPS to try and catch.

I have 2 clowns, 2 pajama cardinals, and a royal gramma

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Just lost 2 new yellow “Cori’s” wrasse to maybe this? From a QT online vendor. Both were fine and happy and swimming. 2 days later one of them was breathing heavily on the bottom of tank and a few hours later was picked to the bones by my CuC. Now 2 days after that I just get in from work and my other yellow wrasse is behaving the same. Bumping into things, breathing hard. I doubt it makes it through the night and my tank is too stocked with SPS to try and catch.

I have 2 clowns, 2 pajama cardinals, and a royal gramma

The hard breathing isn’t a symptom of this particular syndrome. More typically, the fish breathe fine and still eat food, but spin or swim with a bent spine.
What other fish are in with these two wrasse. Hopefully they didn’t bring a gill disease into the tank.

 

[Reefttosai]

Definitely contagious, I lost My 2 year old fat and healthy Male Pintail Wrasse after bringing home a healthy looking and was also feeding Naoko Wrasse from my local LFS. It started showing the symptoms talked about here and it didn't last 24 hours. I have an established mixed reef that has been running for over 20 years. I love Wrasses. This sucks.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Definitely contagious, I lost My 2 year old fat and healthy Male Pintail Wrasse after bringing home a healthy looking and was also feeding Naoko Wrasse from my local LFS. It started showing the symptoms talked about here and it didn't last 24 hours. I have an established mixed reef that has been running for over 20 years. I love Wrasses. This sucks.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

This is the first report that I've had where a long term captive fish was affected. We've heard about groups of new wrasse having this issue, but those were all acquired at the same time. How long did the pintail live with the symptoms?

 

[P. Patches]

Hi. Received this fish quarantined 3 days ago and has been swimming with a slight arch and tail down. Possible to very if this is what’s happening here? Thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi. Received this fish quarantined 3 days ago and has been swimming with a slight arch and tail down. Possible to very if this is what’s happening here? Thanks

Yes, that looks like a mild case to me. That said, stopped tails in wrasse can also be a result of swim bladder deflation.

Neither issues seem to be treatable, other than supportive case: feed it well and keep it away from aggressive fish.