Is this a bite or something worse?

[Dyngoe]

Came home to find my little cleaner wrasse listless on the sandbed. Quickly picked him up and moved him to my QT tank. Within an hour he was dead. It looks like an obvious bite but I want to see if anything else might be at play. He was fine and playing at 4PM and dead at 9PM. Here he is shortly before I put him in a floating container in a small QT I just finished using. I'm holding him until tomorrow to see if there is any change or progression fo the wound.

 

[Recty]

Looks to me like he got a bite taken out of him. I dont know of any parasites or diseases that would remove that much flesh, right through to the jaw, in a small amount of time.

 

[Billybeau1]

That may be a residual from the death. Many times when a fish dies and left unattended, the live fish will pick and pick.

This species of cleaner wrasse is not easily kept in captivity. I know a number of lfs's that refuse to sell them for this reason.

Many do not do well in captivity.

Sorry.

 

[Recty]

Well he only has a 46g bowfront, I'm assuming he doesnt have any big carnivorous fish. That looks like one bite, not a bunch of little ones, or nibbling.

 

[Recty]

And the fact that it's all bloody around the bite site, I dont think it happened post death.

 

[Dyngoe]

Thanks for the reassurance all. It was just so odd to leave with a happy fish and come back to a fish with a hole in it's jaw. I know of the problems keeping cleaner wrasses, but this one ate at the fish store and had no problems with Rod's food here so I was pretty hopeful.

BTW, haven't updated my signature but I now have a 120G mixed reef with a pretty defensive goby, a territorial clown and an angel who has a little temper now and then. I'll assume this guy tried to clean the wrong fish and got a nip in a particularly bad place.