Coral Cat shark (Atelomycterus marmoratus) necropsy

[G4546]

I am posting this in hopes that not only myself, but possibly others can learn. I want to personally thank Alprazo, Griseum (G) and Zoo for helping me the best they could while she was still alive. My deepest thanks to you all.

A great friend of mine E.C. (elegance coral) helped me through the necropsy. Thank you for being there for me brother.

Prior to ...

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First look ... Notice the fluorescent green on the liver. This was concerning to us both. One question we had is if it could have possibly come from post mortem (as not to rule anything out or jump to conclusions)?

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A closer look ...

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Rest of the organs appear to be in 'good' health, no obvious lesions or tears.

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Again, everything appears ok. (outside of the green spot)

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Prior to opening the stomach . . .

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Inside of the stomach contained green bile. We were also unsure of the normality of this.

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[Dmorty217]

Have you read thru the Elasmobranch Husbandry guide? It has a section on this but i don't believe its specific to certain sharks, just more of a over view. When was the last time the shark ate before death? Sounds like it had been awhile since no food was present but only bile?

 

[Nanodoc]

do you expect foul prey?

 

[Zoodiver]

The bright green in the body cavity is normal for a ruptured gall bladder. It is not uncommon for this to occur post mort.
For the pictures, my first thought was the mottled coloration of the liver tissue. A healthy liver should be an even dark red color. Dark areas, light areas and splotchy coloration could be pointing to it failing. Why is the tough question. What was it trying to store or help filter out of the body?

 

[G4546]

Have you read thru the Elasmobranch Husbandry guide? It has a section on this but i don't believe its specific to certain sharks, just more of a over view. When was the last time the shark ate before death? Sounds like it had been awhile since no food was present but only bile?

Yes. They are generally fed every other day to every 3 days, pending what has/is being fed. She ate an abnormally small meal 3-4 days prior to observing the infection near the snout and between the eyes. She then did not accept any meals and passed shortly after.

 

[alprazo]

The bright green in the body cavity is normal for a ruptured gall bladder. It is not uncommon for this to occur post mort.
For the pictures, my first thought was the mottled coloration of the liver tissue. A healthy liver should be an even dark red color. Dark areas, light areas and splotchy coloration could be pointing to it failing. Why is the tough question. What was it trying to store or help filter out of the body?

I totally agree, the liver stands out. It is also large for a benthic shark that doesn't rely on a liver for buoyancy. Below is a pic of a liver from a juvenile coral cat. The mottling of the liver reminds me of steatohepatitis in humans. This condition has been documented from feeding goldfish to marine teleost predators like lionfish. I know the shark is relatively new to you, but my guess is that the look of the liver is due to its diet. This doesn't mean however that the shark died from this condition. It was most likely an infection and unrelated to the liver.

This shark died from a ruptured liver cyst

 

[G4546]

Her diet for the duration of her time under my care, she was fed from the local supermarket Indonesian - white shrimp, Japanese clam and on rare occasion Atlantic squid. All washed in RO and freshly made IO salt. Is this liver issue, that is being noticed, could have happened via these foods? Could this issue have been something prior , that was a lasting impact? Could the colouration of the liver have come post mortem? Or, is it definite it was an issue during its life?

 

[elegance coral]

I know G4546 personally, and I've seen this shark while it was in his care, multiple times. It's rare to see a hobbyist devote the time and attention into the care of an animal like he did with this shark. Personally, I can rule out neglect or poor husbandry, at least on his behalf, as a cause of this sharks demise.

My suspicion is that the shark was raised on a poor diet (prior to G4546 obtaining it), or it had some natural/genetic liver disorder. The liver plays a key role in an animals immune system, so with the liver function compromised, the animal simply fell victim to an infection and perished. Unfortunately, and despite our best efforts, we occasionally have to deal with issues like this when we keep live animals as pets.

I sincerely hope this tragic event doesn't cause G4546 to give up on his passion for these animals. People are going to continue purchasing these animals. We need more hobbyists, like him, that are willing to put in the countless hours of studying and research. We need more hobbyists that are willing to share their experiences so that we may all learn from them. Even when the outcome isn't very pleasant. Like G4546 has done here.

JUST MHO.
Peace
EC

 

[Zoodiver]

When you get an shark like this as an adult, the unknown factors like previous diet and water chemistry can usually be written off as contributing factors.

 

[griseum]

This is an ironic topic to bring up right now, for me. Ive been dealing with this very issue, and without seeing the last 4 posts of this thread, a couple of weeks ago, while giving heavy duty Antibiotic-treated, oxygenated, One hour dips to a few sharks, I came to this very revelation as well.

On one hand, I have raised certain sharks that i possess from a very small juvenile size. On the other hand, to provide a mate, or having taken in a few sharks that were once in someone elses care, I will never know what these adult sharks were subjected to. I was just speaking to someone in the industry whom i respect when it comes to sharks. Apparently some new data is being looked at that not just Nitrite, but high Nitrate levels, especially long term, can cause Brown Blood Disease. The dangers of Nitrite in Saltwater seem to be an Open-for-Discussion issue, as Freshwater Fish in a high Nitrite environment are protected by the addition of Salts to the aquarium (a bit of topic).

Its very frustrating, to say the least, when you look at a big shark, that you have had now for awhile, and something is amiss..... and you'll never know because it came from another hobbyist.
I've acknowledged another thing. There are only a handful of LFS that i know of that will pay the very expensive shipping to receive a large shark. Let alone have the adequate sized tanks to house a large shark in their store.
By saying this, I mean to point out that when you see a Sub-Adult or Adult shark in the store, no matter what youre told, that may have been a customers overgrown Shark.

Sorry for the Ranting.... I've been having my share of similar problems G4546 !!!