Amazed by my Lions eye

[JustinReef]

Just a week or so ago, I thought my lion was blind in one eye and in fact loosing it completely. It was literally melting away. The lens was exposed as the cornea was gone or at least looked as if it had been popped. My brother came by to see the fish as he is a marine biologist and he thought the cornea had hardened and basically sunken back into the area around the lens, although he is no expert in this kind of thing and had no idea why this would happen. Then a few days after that the lens went from black to a cloudy grey and looked as if it was hardening as well and getting smaller. I thought the tissue left was dying off. He still moved the eye but clearly could not see out of it.

It was very weird to see what was essentially a "flattened" eye with no clear cornea and just a tiny little lens left.

A few days after that, I noticed what looked like some kind of bacteria on the eye. I thought it may be infected or something and got really worried. The whole thing was white and bulging. It stayed like that for another few days.

After my puffer jumping out of the tank and dying a few days ago, I did not go near the tank, much less look at any of the fish but tonight when I did, his eye is back!

Im absolutely amazed by this. Its a tiny bit cloudy in the middle but looks just like it used it. No different from the other eye!

Its like he lost the old one besides the lens (and I would assume he never lost the retina or optic nerve) and then just grew it back.

Has anyone ever heard of this???

 

[predator 1]

Yes, I have a "Blue Lined Snapper" that received an eye trauma through an altercation with my Clown Trigger. The very same thing happened eventually. The eye looked as if it was totally destroyed, but after a period in isolation and meds, the eye miraculously heeled. The fish now has a new eye, although I am not convinced it has 100% perfect vision.

 

[JustinReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13204054#post13204054 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by predator 1
Yes, I have a "Blue Lined Snapper" that received an eye trauma through an altercation with my Clown Trigger. The very same thing happened eventually. The eye looked as if it was totally destroyed, but after a period in isolation and meds, the eye miraculously heeled. The fish now has a new eye, although I am not convinced it has 100% perfect vision.

How quick was the healing time?

In my case (or my lions), it was around a week I guess or even a bit less and no meds or isolation. I never really thought about how it happened but he could have been bitten by my Niger Trigger I guess.

In any case, its really amazing...

 

[predator 1]

The healing and re-growth period was approximately 3 weeks. It is not uncommon for Triggers to attack the "Vulnerable" eye areas. So yes, your Lions injury could well have been inflicted by your "Niger Trigger".

 

[Recty]

I'd go so far to say it is common for triggers to attack the eyes of their tank mates... the more aggressive triggers anyway.

 

[JustinReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13204218#post13204218 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Recty
I'd go so far to say it is common for triggers to attack the eyes of their tank mates... the more aggressive triggers anyway.

My Trigger is very timid though and I have never seen him show any aggression towards any fish. That doesn't mean he doesn't but I do work from home and am beside the tank all day.

Also just realized that the lion was not even in the same tank when this happened. He was in a 24G by himself. I had planned on moving him to the big tank and thats when I noticed his eye. I held off for a few days but once I thought it was "dead", I decided just to move him anyways.

So it couldn't have been trigger. It couldn't have been any fish that did this.